Continuous Production of Docetaxel-Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Using a Coaxial Turbulent Jet Mixer with Heating System

The continuous synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) has been actively studied due to its great potential to produce NPs with reproducible and controllable physicochemical properties. Here, we achieved the high throughput production of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) using a coaxial turbulent jet mixer with an added heating system. This device, designed for the crossflow of precursor solution and non-solvent, combined with the heating system, efficiently dissolves solid lipids and surfactants. We reported the flow regime according to the Reynolds number (Re). Also, we confirmed the size controllability of NLCs as dependent on both Re and lipid concentration. The optimized synthesis yields NLCs around 80 nm, ideal for targeted drug delivery by enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. The coaxial turbulent jet mixer enables effective mixing, producing uniform size distribution of NLCs. The NLCs prepared using the coaxial turbulent jet mixer were smaller, more uniform, and had higher drug loading compared to the NLCs synthesized by a bulk nanoprecipitation method, showcasing its potential for advancing nanomedicine.