Sponsor: DFG
Contact person: Daniel Jupke
Summary of the overall project:
A major challenge in modern drug research is the development of application forms for poorly water-soluble active ingredients. One possible way of application is via emulsion. The active ingredients are solved in a lipid phase, which is dispersed in an aqueous phase. This enables parenteral administration and an increase in the bioavailability of the drugs. For pharmaceutical applications, premix membrane emulsification is a possible manufacturing process for nanoemulsions. Here, a predispersed emulsion is forced through a nanoporous membrane, resulting in a reduction in droplet size. A disadvantage of previous premix membrane emulsification processes is the use of polymer membranes. They are highly sensitive to chemical and physical influences, have a short service life and cannot be regenerated. These disadvantages can be avoided by using membranes made of metal. Modern nanoporous nickel base superalloy membranes are obtained by a coarsening process followed by phase extraction. In this project, the interactions of membrane structure, formulation, and process and product properties will be investigated systematically and in depth to provide a scientific-process assessment of the usability of these membranes in pharmaceutical applications as well as basic design rules for membranes and processes.
Ziele und Aufgaben des iPAT:
Fig : nickel-base superalloy membran
Project partners:
Institute for Materials Science, TU Braunschweig and Department of Pharmaceutics, TU Braunschweig