Microfluidic Manufacturing of Polymeric Nanoparticles

The chapter addresses the application of microfluidic techniques in manufacturing polymer nanoparticles. It encompasses a brief introduction focused on the main aspects of microfluidic technique that can affect polymer nanoparticle characteristics. The nanoparticles formation takes place in three steps: (i) nucleation of nanoparticles, (ii) nanoparticles growth because of aggregation and (iii) locked nanoparticles after a characteristic aggregation time scale. The importance of both type of flow inside the microfluidic device chip and the microchip geometries are pointed out. Manufacturing of polymer nanoparticles is described, differentiating between natural polymers and synthetic polymers. Among the natural polymers, the chapter focuses on polysaccharides such as chitosan, hyaluronic acid and alginic acid. Among the synthetic polymers, the chapter focuses on poly-alfa-hydroxyacids such as on poly(lactic-co-glycol acid) (PLGA) and its derivatives such as poly(lactic-co-glycol acid)-co-polyethylenglycol (PLGA-PEG) The preparation methods are described and revised, highlighting the process parameters. Eventually, scale-up at industrial production methods are introduced and discussed. The conclusions highlight how microfluidics enables the integration of several processing steps to realize continuous flow operation, namely automation and monitoring of product quality. However, despite the modern improvements in manufacturing processes of polymeric NPs, the translation of this technology is still challenging, and a strong multidisciplinary collaboration needs to be channelled to this purpose.