(151c) Encapsulation and Nanoparticle Formation for “Non-Standard” Applications

Encapsulation and nanoparticle formation for “non-standard”
applications

Prof. Robert K. Prud’homme¹, Prof. Rodney D.
Priestley¹, Leslie Shor² ,Douglas Scott¹, Jie
Feng¹

¹ Princeton University, Department of Chemical
and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton NJ 08544

² University of Connecticut, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Storrs,
CT 06269-3222

Presenting author: Robert K. Prud’homme,
prudhomm@princeton.edu

Traditionally, encapsulation and nanoparticles have been
associated with high value applications such as drug delivery in medicine. The
two main reasons have been the high cost of nanoparticle assembly processes for
complex nanoparticles that encapsulate and release actives in a controlled way,
and the fact that encapsulation technologies for larger scale macro-particles
do not translate to nano-scale particles. Recent advances in low-cost
nanoparticle assembly present the opportunity to open up new applications. First,
we present an overview of encapsulation and release technologies. Then we
provide a review of the rapid-precipitation technologies we have developed that
rely on the control of the fluid dynamics, diffusion-limited aggregation, and
steric stabilization of nanoparticles. The processes are scaleable, low cost,
and produce nanoparticles from 50-400 nm. Several novel applications will be
presented: (1) nanoparticle delivery of agricultural actives s to plant roots
by protist active transport, (2) triggered indicator inks for sterilization
processes, (3) “green chemistry” encapsulation of personal care compounds using
purely aqueous processing.