Continuous production of monodisperse nanoparticles assemblies by an in-flow ligand desorption method

Magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) present great potential in biomedical applications e.g. as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, for hyperthermia therapy and for drug delivery, but their application is limited by the... [ view full abstract ]

Magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) present great potential in biomedical applications e.g. as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, for hyperthermia therapy and for drug delivery, but their application is limited by the weak magnetic moment of single particles. This limitation can be addressed through the fabrication of clusters of NPs (NPCs). New processes for a large production of monodisperse NPCs with selectable size and surface chemistry are therefore required.

Our group have developed a novel technique for assembling stable monodisperse NPCs by competitive stabilizer desorption¹ to a liquid-liquid interface which allows fine control over the size of the formed NPCs, while retaining their monodispersity. The process is robust and reproducible; we will describe here how it can be adapted for continuous production of monodisperse suspensions of NPCs, and how these may be continuously collected using a bespoke liquid-liquid phase separator. Hence the production of NPCs is only limited by the initial quantity of the starting material available, while the final suspensions of NPCs remain monodisperse with size selectable through controllable experimental parameters.

[1] Stolarczyk JK, Swapankumar G and Brougham DF, Angew. Chem. Int.Ed. 2009, 48, 175­178.