Ultrasonic enhanced emulsification process in 3D printed microfluidic device to encapsulate active pharmaceutical ingredients.

A new method to prepare polymer encapsulated repaglinide nanoparticles through ultrasonic enhanced microchannel emulsification technique was explored. Using the concept of 3D printing, three different shaped micromixers (T-type, Y-type, and F-type) followed by a serpentine microchannel was fabricated using SS-316. Parametric study was performed on all three fabricated micromixers. The best results were obtained for the Y-microchannel in a microfluidic system alone, which showed a minimum particle size of 513.6 nm with 75.4% encapsulation efficiency (EE). In the selected microchannel, to further reduce the drug particle size and to increase% EE, convective mixing between immiscible fluids was enhanced by implementing ultrasound. Compared to the microfluidic system, particle size and EE were significantly improved in the ultrasonic microfluidic system. The experimental results revealed that the minimum particle size of 75.4 ± 1.3 nm with 82.9 ± 0.2% EE was achieved using an ultrasonic enhanced microfluidic system. The zeta potential of + 29.5 mV was obtained for emulsion prepared using the ultrasonic microfluidic system, whereas + 22 mV was prepared using a microfluidic system. Moreover, a backscattering measurement was performed to predict the stability of prepared emulsions. Integrating the ultrasound with a microfluidic system has proven beneficial for drug encapsulation.