Elsevier, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 1(328), p. 72-77
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2006.08.004
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The micronization of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) from organic solutions using supercritical antisolvent (SAS) technique has been successfully achieved. SAS experiments were carried out at different operational conditions and microspheres with mean diameters ranging from 3 to 9 microm were obtained. The effect of CO(2) and liquid flow, temperature and pressure on particle size and particle size distribution was evaluated. The microspheres were precipitated from a dichloromethane (DCM) solution. The best process conditions for this mixture were, according to our study, 40 degrees C, 100 bar, 1 mL min(-1) liquid flow and 10 L min(-1) carbon dioxide flow. Experiments with polymers containing different HV percentages were carried out. The powders obtained became more spherical as the HV content decreased.