Conducting Polymeric Nanocomposites with a Three-Dimensional Co-flow Microfluidics Platform.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Polymer nanoprecipitation is crucial for biological and medicinal applications.
• Existing methods lack generality for diverse biocompatible polymers and high-throughput production.
• A need exists for generalized, efficient platforms to produce polymer nanoparticles (NPs).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple microfluidics device for fabricating structurally diverse polymer nanoparticles.
• To investigate the influence of key parameters on nanoparticle size and distribution.
• To demonstrate the platform's generality with various biocompatible polymers.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a microfluidics device using glass slides, capillaries, and metal needles.
• Nanoprecipitation of four biocompatible polymers: acetalated dextran (Ac-DEX), spermine acetalated dextran (Sp-Ac-DEX), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), and chitosan.
• Systematic variation of polymer concentration, solvent/non-solvent ratio, and capillary opening.
• Characterization of nanoparticles using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and optical microscopy.

Main Results:

• The microfluidics platform successfully produced polymer nanoparticles (NPs) from diverse polymers.
• Polymer concentration was identified as the primary determinant of NP size and distribution.
• Solvent/non-solvent ratio had a secondary effect, while capillary opening showed a minor influence.
• Obtained NPs were smooth spheres with tunable diameters and polymer-dependent surface charges (positive/negative).

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidics device offers a generalized and high-throughput method for polymer NP fabrication.
• Control over NP size and surface potential is achievable by tuning process parameters, particularly polymer concentration.
• This platform facilitates the production of tailored polymer nanoparticles for various biomedical applications.