Microfluidic confined acoustic streaming vortex for liposome synthesis†

Abstract

Liposomes have garnered significant attention owing to their favorable characteristics as promising carriers. Microfluidic based hydrodynamic flow focusing, or micro-mixing approaches enable precise control of liposome size during their synthesis due to the comparable size scale. However, current microfluidic approaches still have issues such as high flow rate dependency, complex chip structures, and ease of clogging. Herein, we present a novel microfluidic platform for size-tunable liposome synthesis based on an ultra-high-frequency acoustic resonator. By designing the shape and orientation of the acoustic resonator in the three-phase laminar flow, it combined the features of both hydrodynamic flow focusing and rapid micro-mixing. The distribution of lipid precursor solution in laminar flow and the mixing conditions could be regulated by the confined acoustic streaming vortex. We successfully synthesize liposomes with adjustable sizes and narrow size distributions. Notably, this platform regulates the product size by adjusting only the input power, which is less dependent on the flow rate. Furthermore, the vortex-like fluid flow generated along the device edge effectively prevents precipitation due to excessive lipid concentration or contact with the wall.