• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.632-637
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• 2014

A microfluidic method for the in situ production of monodispersed alginate hydrogels using biocompatible polymer gelation by crosslinker mass transfer is described. Gelation of the hydrogel was achieved in situ by the dispersed calcium ion in the microfluidic device. The capillary number (Ca) and the flow rate of the disperse phase which are important operating parameters mainly influenced the formation of three distinctive flow regions, such as dripping, jetting, and unstable dripping. Under the formation of dripping region, monodispersed alginate hydrogels having a narrow size distribution (C.V=2.71%) were produced in the microfluidic device and the size of the hydrogels, ranging from 30 to $60{\mu}m$, could be easily controlled by varying the flow rate, viscosity, and interfacial tension. This simple microfluidic method for the production of monodisperse alginate hydrogels shows strong potential for use in delivery systems of foods, cosmetics, inks, and drugs, and spherical alginate hydrogels which have biocompatibility will be applied to cell transplantation.

• Clean Technology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.283-288
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• 2019

Monodisperse microparticles has been particularly enabling for various applications in the encapsulation and delivery of pharmaceutical agents. The microfluidic devices are attractive candidates to produce highly uniform droplets that serve as templates to form monodisperse microparticles. The microfluidic devices that have micro-scale channel allow precise control of the balance between surface tension and viscous forces in two-phase flows. One of its essential abilities is to generate highly monodisperse droplets. In this paper, a microfluidic approach for preparing monodisperse polycaprolactone (PCL) microparticles is presented. The microfluidic devices that have a flow-focusing generator are manufactured by soft-lithography using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The crucial factors in the droplet generation are the controllability of size and monodispersity of the microdroplets. For this, the volumetric flow rates of the dispersed phase of oil solution and the continuous phase of water to generate monodisperse droplets are optimized. As a result, the optimal flow condition for droplet dripping region that is able to generate uniform droplet is found. Furthermore, the droplets containing PCL polymer by solvent evaporation after collection of droplet from device is solidified to generate the microparticle. The particle size can be controlled by tuning the flow rate and the size of the microchannel. The monodispersity of the PCL particles is measured by a coefficient of variation (CV) below 5%.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.32 no.1 s.55
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• pp.35-44
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• 2006

Recently, encapsulation studies have been tarried out to protect active agents using shell materials such as polymers, lipids, inorganic materials and the other protective materials. We have prepared copolymers of methylmethacrylate (MMA) and trimethoxysilylpropylmethacrylate (TMPMA), and the copolymers as shell materials were used for encapsulating active agents. Poly(MMA-co-TMPMA) spheres were very efficient for encapsulating active agents such as vitamin derivatives (such as retinol, retinyl palmitate, tocopheryl acetate and ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate) and oil soluble licorice extract etc. Mean diameters of poly(MMA-co-TMPMA) core-shell spheres containing active agents varied between about 0.1 to $10{\mu}m$ according to the experimental conditions. The loading amount of encapsulating active agents was 15 to 25% (w/w) and the loading yield was above 90%. The stability of active agents in poly(MMA-co-TMPMA) core-shell spheres prepared with an UV absorbing precursor increased by 25% compared with that of active agents in spheres prepared without an UV absorbing precursor.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2003

Purpose : To develop a theoretical model for magnetic relaxation behavior of the superparamagnetic nano-particle agent, which demonstrates multi-functionality such as liver- and lymp node-specificity. Based on the developed model, the computer simulation was performed to clarify the relationship between relaxation time and the applied magnetic field strength. Materials and Methods : The ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) was encapsulated with biocompatiable polymer, to develop a relaxation model based on outsphere mechanism, which was resulting from diffusion and/or electron spin fluctuation. In addition, Brillouin function was introduced to describe the full magnetization by considering the fact that the low-field approximation, which was adapted in paramagnetic case, is no longer valid. The developed model describes therefore the T1 and T2 relaxation behavior of superparamagnetic iron oxide both in low-field and in high-field. Based on our model, the computer simulation was performed to test the relaxation behavior of superparamagnetic contrast agent over various magnetic fields using MathCad (MathCad, U.S.A.), a symbolic computation software. Results : For T1 and T2 magnetic relaxation characteristics of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide, the theoretical model showed that at low field (<1.0 Mhz), $\tau_{S1}(\tau_{S2}$, in case of T2), which is a correlation time in spectral density function, plays a major role. This suggests that realignment of nano-magnetic particles is most important at low magnetic field. On the other hand, at high field, $\tau$, which is another correlation time in spectral density function, plays a major role. Since $\tau$ is closely related to particle size, this suggests that the difference in R1 and R2 over particle sizes, at high field, is resulting not from the realignment of particles but from the particle size itself. Within normal body temperature region, the temperature dependence of T1 and T2 relaxation time showed that there is no change in T1 and T2 relaxation times at high field. Especially, T1 showed less temperature dependence compared to T2. Conclusion : We developed a theoretical model of r magnetic relaxation behavior of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO), which was reported to show clinical multi-functionality by utilizing physical properties of nano-magnetic particle. In addition, based on the developed model, the computer simulation was performed to investigate the relationship between relaxation time of USPIO and the applied magnetic field strength.