ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview about composition, preparation methods and application of Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLN) with special focus to recent trends. SLN formulations are complex systems with respect to the phase behavior of the matrix lipid as well as to the possibility of co-existence of additional colloidal structures formed by the excess of stabilizers. The chapter discusses the reader a critical overview about the basic principles of preparation and characterization of SLN as well as to show their potential and challenges for drug delivery in the background of selected publications. High-pressure homogenization is a reliable and powerful method for the production of SLN dispersions and used in industrial scale for the preparation of colloidal fat emulsions for parenteral nutrition. Drug-free and diazepam-loaded SLN stabilized with poloxamer 188 and prepared by precipitation from a microemulsion could be sterilized by autoclaving without massive particle size growth.
