Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) sub-microparticles produced by Supercritical Assisted Injection in a Liquid Antisolvent

• A supercritical assisted process based on expanded liquids is applied for sub-micrometric particles production.
• PMMA suspensions with particle diameters ranging between 0.2 ± 0.04 μm and 0.9 ± 0.2 μm can be obtained.
• The influence of expanded liquid conditions on particle dimensions has been studied.

A recently developed supercritical assisted process, called Supercritical Assisted Injection in a Liquid Antisolvent (SAILA) is proposed to produce polymer micro and nanoparticles in water stabilized suspensions. Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) has been selected as the model polymer for a systematic study of the influence of the SAILA operating parameters on particle morphology and diameter. The effect of expanded liquid injection pressure on particle size and distribution was studied and different expanded liquid temperatures and compositions were also explored. Successful precipitation of the polymer in a water stabilized suspension was obtained and narrow particle size distributions were obtained using 70 and 90 bar injection pressures. PMMA particles controlled diameter were produced ranging between 0.2 ± 0.04 μm and 0.9 ± 0.2 μm. Particles are formed from the expanded liquid solution as a consequence of very fast supersaturation produced by spraying it the liquid antisolvent.

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