Carbonated hydroxyapatites(CHA) were rapidly and continuously synthesized in supercritical water by using a tubular reactor. The effects of reaction time and the ratio of PO43-/CO32-on the apatite structure were investigated by using XRD, FTIR and TEM. Results showed that 30 seconds were enough to produce fully crystalline CHA nano-rods, ca. 20×70 nm in size, at 380 ℃ and 24 MPa. When the ratio of PO43-/CO32-was not less than 1, the CO32-ions mainly substituted for PO43-in apatite structure; but CO32-ions could react with Ca2+ to form CaCO3 phase when the ratio of PO43-/CO32-was less than 1.
Lutein was nano-encapsuled with hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose phthalate （HPMCP） to maintain its bioactivity and to avoid thermal/light degradation. Supercritical antisolvent precipitation was applied to prepare lutein/HPMCP nano-capsule. The effects of several operating parameters on the yield, lutein loading, encapsulation efficiency, particle size and particle size distribution of the nanocapsule were investigated. The mean diameter of nanocapsules ranged from 163 nm to 219 nm under appropriate experimental conditions. The result of scanning electron microscope showed that the nanocapsules were nearly spherical. The highest yield reached 95.35% when the initial concentration of lutein was saturated. The highest lutein loading of 15.80% and encapsulation efficiency of 88,41% were obtained under the conditions of 11 MPa, 40℃ and CHPMCP： Clutein= 5：1. The results may promote the application of lutein in food industry.
Thalidomide treats multiple myeloma and protracts life-span of patient, but its bioavailability is limited as it is poorly water soluble. Thalidomide nano-flakes are produced to improve the drug dissolution rate. Two nanoflake production methods are utilized for a comparative study： a supercritical antisolvent （SAS） method and a supercritical antisolvent with enhanced mass transfer （SAS-EM）. SAS-EM utilizes ultrasonication to improve dispersion upon injection within the supercritical carbon dioxide. Comparative study of SAS and SAS-EM thalidomide confirmed that the application of ultrasonication improved the micro/nano particles produced by SAS. The effects of ultrasound power on the formation of thalidomide particles are examined. The particle size and morphology were characterized by SEM. The thalidomide nano-flakes produced by SAS-EM were smaller than the particles produced by SAS. Dissolution rates of the produced particles, evaluated by HPLC, demonstrated an increase in the thalidomide dissolution rate for the SAS-EM produced particles, The polymorphs and crystallinity of thalidomide particles （flakes） were observed by FTIR and XRD. In this research, the supercritical processing significantly modified the crystal formation of thalidomide from an original state of a β-polymorph to the amorphous state α-polymorph after suoercritical orocessing.
HeyangJinMelinda HemingwayRam B. GuptaFei XiaYaping Zhao
The submicroparticles of β-sitosterol were produced by using an aerosol solvent extraction system （ASES） and characterized by scanning electronic microscope （SEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, and Fourier transform infrared （FT-IR） analysis. The effects of operational parameters including pressure, temperature, solution concentration, and ratio of flow rate （CO2/solution, r） on particle size （PS）, yield, and morphology were investigated. The results showed that microparticles of β-sitosterol （less than 1000 nm size and larger than 70% yield） could be obtained at 10-15 MPa, 35 50℃, 15 mg·ml^-1, 10/1（r）; β-sitosterol particles were found to occur as three mophologies： flakes, rods, and spheres by varying ratio of flow rate or solution concentration. In contrast, the crystallinity of β-sitosterol decreased, whereas its molecular structure remained almost unchanged after being ASES-treated. Therefore, ASES was an effective method to produce submicroparticles of β-sitosterol.
