Innovative low energy production of controlled sized unilamellar liposomes by means of a spinning disk reactor

In recent years, the interest in the production of unilamellar liposomes (ULs) as drug carriers for a wide range of different substances is growing. There are several methods to prepare ULs adopting the use of toxic organic solvents, complex multistage processes and high energy requirements. The products obtained exhibit poor stability and wide broad particle size distribution (PSD). In this work, spinning disk reactor (SDR) technology is used to produce ULs characterized by a narrow PSD by adopting a green solvent-antisolvent protocol, that are ethanol and water respectively. This reactor is introduced in the context of Process Intensification (PI). Relevant operational parameters such as the rotational velocity of the disk, the position of the injector from the disk center as well as the molar ratio between the reactants were investigated. The obtained results validate the suggested approach, demonstrating the SDR is capable to produce ULs with a narrow PSD and of controllable mean size, ranging from 95 nm to 600 nm. An encapsulation within the ULs structure of 81% in mass of an added carotenoid during production by means of the SDR is found, at a production rate of 1 kg of ULs in 48 h and using 158 MJ of energy.