%0 Journal Article
%T Preparation and Regulation of Natural Amphiphilic Zein Nanoparticles by Microfluidic Technology.
%A Liu Z
%A Ma X
%A Ge Y
%A Hei X
%A Zhang X
%A Hu H
%A Zhu J
%A Adhari B
%A Wang Q
%A Shi A
%J Foods
%V 13
%N 11
%D 2024 May 31
%M 38890958
%F 5.561
%R 10.3390/foods13111730
%X Microfluidic technology, as a continuous and mass preparation method of nanoparticles, has attracted much attention in recent years. In this study, zein nanoparticles (ZNPs) were continuously fabricated in a highly controlled manner by combining a microfluidics platform with the antisolvent method. The impact of ethanol content (60~95%, v/v) and flow rates of inner and outer phases in the microfluidics platform on particle properties were examined. Among all ZNPS, 90%-ZNPs have the highest solubility (32.83%) and the lowest hydrophobicity (90.43), which is the reverse point of the hydrophobicity of ZNPs. Moreover, when the inner phase flow rate was 1.5 mL/h, the particle size decreased significantly from 182.81 nm to 133.13 nm as the outer phase flow rate increased from 10 mL/h to 50 mL/h. The results revealed that ethanol content had significant impacts on hydrophilic-hydrophobic properties of ZNPs. The flow rates of ethanol-water solutions and deionized water (solvent and antisolvent) in the microfluidics platform significantly affected the particle size of ZNPs. These findings demonstrated that the combined application of a microfluidics platform and an antisolvent method could be an effective pathway for precisely controlling the fabrication process of protein nanoparticles and modulating their physicochemical properties.