Controlled morphology and size of curcumin using ultrasound in supercritical CO2 antisolvent

Jingfu Jia; Wucong Wang; Yahui Gao; Yaping Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2015.06.011

Controlled morphology and size of curcumin using ultrasound in supercritical CO2 antisolvent

Ultrason Sonochem. 2015 Nov:27:389-394. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2015.06.011. Epub 2015 Jun 17.

Authors

Jingfu Jia¹, Wucong Wang¹, Yahui Gao¹, Yaping Zhao²

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
² School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: ypzhao@sjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 26186858
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2015.06.011

Abstract

Controllable morphology and size of crystal materials prepared by using a supercritical antisolvent (SAS) technique is still challenge. In this study, ultrasound was introduced into the SAS process to produce the particles of curcumin, a model compound. The effects of ultrasound power on the particle morphology and size were investigated in the range of 0 and 240 W at three different pressures. The observation of jet flow indicated ultrasound could accelerate the mixing speed between the liquid solution and the CO2, and thus reduced the gaseous region and the local saturation gradient. Mixed polymorphic and uniform particles of the curcumin were produced at a low and high mixing speed, respectively, confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The needle- or rod-like particle, irregular lumpy particle and nano spherical particle were generated with the increase of the ultrasound power, attributed to the changes of the degree of supersaturation. Therefore, the ultrasound can be potentially applied to adjust the morphology and size of the crystal materials in supercritical CO2 antisolvent.

Keywords: Curcumin; Supercritical antisolvent; Ultrasound.