| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 592355 | Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects | 2015 | 7 Pages |
•Alginate nanoparticles were generated by polyelectrolyte complexation between alginate and poly-l-lysine (PLL) through a microfluidic mixing device.•The alginate nanoparticles generated by microfluidic mixing exhibited enhanced aggregation stability, when compared with those obtained with the conventional bulk mixing method.•Through tuning of the flow rates in the microfluidic device, the size of alginate nanoparticles was controlled.
Alginate-based nanoparticles were generated by mixing two types of stock solutions through a microfluidic device. In our microfluidic mixing device, aqueous Ca-alginate pre-gels and cationic poly-l-lysine (PLL) solutions were mixed, and the polyelectrolyte complexation that subsequently occurred between the pre-gel and PLL resulted in precipitates, yielding alginate nanoparticles. Due to the faster microfluidic mixing achieved compared with that obtained with the conventional bulk mixing method, the alginate nanoparticles exhibited enhanced aggregation stability. The control of the size of the nanoparticles through the tuning of the flow rates in the microfluidic device was also achieved.
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