Microfluidics for Multiphase Mixing and Liposomal Encapsulation of Nanobioconjugates: Passive vs. Acoustic Systems

One of the main routes to ensure that biomolecules or bioactive agents remain active as they are incorporated into products with applications in different industries is by their encapsulation. Liposomes attractive platforms for encapsulation due ease synthesis and manipulation potential fuse cell membranes when intended drug delivery applications. We propose encapsulating our recently developed cell-penetrating nanobioconjugates based on magnetite interfaced translocating proteins peptides purpose potentiating internalization capabilities even further. To prepare encapsulates (also known magnetoliposomes (MLPs)), we introduced a low-cost microfluidic device equipped serpentine microchannel favor interaction between liposomes nanobioconjugates. The performance device, operated either passively presence ultrasound, was evaluated both silico experimentally. analysis implemented through multiphysics simulations software COMSOL Multiphysics 5.5® (COMSOL Inc., Stockholm, Sweden) via Eulerian model transport diluted species model. efficiency determined experimentally, aided spectrofluorimetry. Encapsulation efficiencies obtained experimentally approached 80% highest flow rate ratios (FRRs). Compared passive mixer, results under acoustic waves led higher discrepancies respect those This attributed complexity process such situation. MLPs demonstrated successful methods 36% reduction size ones ultrasound. These findings suggest proposed micromixers well suited produce very efficiently homogeneous key physichochemical properties.