ABSTRACT
Laboratoire de Procédés Propres et Environnement, Université d’Aix-Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, France
Production of ultrafine particles with desired properties is the objective of many industries. Precise control of particle size is beneficial in the development of catalysts, adsorbents with high specific surface area, porous solids for chromatography, pigments, polymers, ion-exchange resins, explosives, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals. This task is often more challenging in the pharmaceutical industry, which requires the processing of labile therapeutic entities. The pharmaceutical industry aims at producing particles of micrometer or submicrometer size for use in formulations administered by various routes including the parenteral, inhalation, and oral modes. In most cases, the requirement of small particle size is accompanied by the desirability of particle size distribution (PSD) that is as narrow as possible. For instance, to achieve optimal drug delivery to the lung, it is important to ensure that the drug is formulated into microparticles of the appropriate aerodynamic size, shape, and apparent density; in this particular case, the microparticles must have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of approximately 2µm.
