Process intensification for the synthesis of ultra-small organic nanoparticles with supercritical CO2 in a microfluidic system

Thomas Jaouhari (1) , Fan Zhang (1) , Thierry Tassaing (2) , Suzanne Fery-Forgues (3) , Cyril Aymonier (1) , Samuel Marre (1) , Arnaud Erriguible (4, 1)

1 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux
2 ISM - Institut des Sciences Moléculaires
3 SPCMIB - Synthèse et Physico-Chimie de Molécules d'Intérêt Biologique
4 I2M - Institut de Mécanique et d'Ingénierie

Submicronization of organic compounds is a challenging requirement for applications in the imaging and pharmaceutical fields. A new Supercritical AntiSolvent process with microreactor (µSAS) was developed for nanoparticle (NP) synthesis. Tetrahydrofuran (THF) was used to solubilize a model organic molecule, tetraphenylethylene, and supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2) was used as antisolvent. The solubility of TPE in the THF/CO2 system was first measured by in situ experiments. Then, NPs of TPE were prepared in various experimental conditions and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Chosen experimental conditions led to NPs with a mean size of 9 ± 3 nm. Experimental µSAS results were compared with size distributions obtained by simulation, to obtain surface tension values, which are difficult to access by experiment alone. Simulations coupling Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Population Balance Equation (PBE) were performed under turbulent conditions in the high pressure microreactors. This coupled experimental and theoretical approach allowed a deep understanding of the µSAS process and underlined the superior value of this technique for the preparation of NPs.

Mots clés: Microfluidic; Supercritical fluid; Nanoparticle synthesis; Numerical simulation; Mixing intensification

Domaines: Matériaux

Thomas Jaouhari, Fan Zhang, Thierry Tassaing, Suzanne Fery-Forgues, Cyril Aymonier, et al.. Process intensification for the synthesis of ultra-small organic nanoparticles with supercritical CO2 in a microfluidic system. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2020, 397, pp.125333. ⟨10.1016/j.cej.2020.125333⟩. ⟨hal-02768081⟩