Integrating micromixer precipitation and electrospray drying toward continuous production of drug nanoparticles

We propose an integrated device combining micromixer precipitation and electrospray drying to directly produce dry drug nanoparticles. Drug nanoparticles were formed via non-solvent precipitation in the micromixer part of the device, and the resulted nanosuspension was subsequently dried by the electrospraying. The effects of the liquid flow rate, the applied voltage, the initial drug concentration, and the mixing/precipitation duration on the size and morphology of the products were experimentally investigated. By tuning the process conditions, nanoparticles with controllable shape and size could be achieved. In addition, the possibility of using this integrated device for a continuous production process of drug nanoparticles was explored.