ADVANCED FLOW TECHNOLOGY FOR HEALTHCARE MATERIALS MANUFACTURING

Inorganic nanoparticles have the potential to dramatically modify existing materials while providing the capability to engineer a broad range of transformative new products. Exhibiting unique properties not encountered in bulk materials, inorganic nanoparticles present the opportunity to address, and the potential to overcome, some of the most pressing global challenges. This is leading to intense global competition to develop and commercialize nanoproducts with a variety of applications in healthcare, energy, transport and security, with the aim of acquiring a dominant market position in the nanotechnology sector. Nanoparticles offer ideal solutions for detecting and treating many diseases. They can be used as drug carriers, labelling and tracking agents, and vectors for gene therapy, hyperthermia treatment and magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents. Used as targeted drug-delivery systems, they can improve the performance of medicines already on the market. They enable the development of new therapeutic strategies such as anti-cancer drug delivery, extending product life cycles and reducing healthcare costs. In this proposal we focus on the manufacturing of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) and iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). These materials have existing applications in diagnostics and therapeutics. Bespoke monodispersed functionalised NPs offer new applications in antimicrobial surfaces (Au NPs plus dye) and in a new hyperthermia treatment for cancer (MNPs). UCL is at the forefront of the engineering approach to make nanoparticles as well as being world leading in magnetic hyperthermia and antimicrobial surfaces.

Nanoparticles are conventionally synthesized in relatively small batch reactors. These systems are poorly controllable, leading to products that are hard to reproduce. Also, they do not lend themselves to expedient upscaling. Such problems are caused by the inefficient mixing and slow heat and mass transfer characterizing batch reactors, and by the difficulty of decoupling in time the various stages of the synthesis, particularly particle nucleation and growth. This research aims to design and demonstrate a new, sustainable and scalable approach for manufacturing high-value nanomaterials with advanced properties in a way that is controllable and reproducible and that does not involve significant upscaling issues. To attain this ambitious goal, we will integrate methods, skills and strengths of different disciplines (materials chemistry, engineering), seeking guidance from industrial partners and UK manufacturing centres. Giving us access to their state-of-the-art facilities, sharing their expertise and providing an application context for our work, they will further characterize the nanoparticles, evaluate their performance and facilitate pathways to manufacture and routes to market.

There is currently a lot of research in developing novel materials, where the focus is on discovery but with little emphasis on manufacturing. Using chemical engineering principles and systems engineering methodologies within a multidisciplinary framework, our research will demonstrate not only the need to consider key physical phenomena (mixing, heat transfer etc.) in nanoparticles synthesis, but also how to account and address related manufacturing challenges from the outset. In this way, an important benefit of this project will be to provide a paradigm shift in nanoparticle synthesis and production and bridge the discovery-manufacturing divide.

Impact on economy. Nanotechnologies are important to the UK future because of their potential to improve, if not altogether transform, many types of consumer products. The worldwide transition toward the use of nanotechnologies is a significant economic opportunity for the UK. In healthcare, nano-enabled drug delivery is expected to grow from a current value of $2.3 billion to $136 billion by 2021, while nano-enabled diagnostics is estimated to reach $53 billion by 2021. This work will contribute to keeping the UK at the forefront of nanotechnology by enhancing UK's strategic manufacturing capability. Although the research focuses on healthcare applications, our technology will have wide applicability and impact, and will naturally translate to other manufacturing sectors. The nanotechnology industry in general will thus benefit from this work. Our approach will help reduce risk and capital cost associated with scaling up, by eliminating costly redesigns and pilot plant experiments.

Impact on society. In the long term, the health and life quality of the wider public will benefit through the provision of more efficient and less harmful diagnostic and therapeutic techniques enabled by the use of the nanomaterials that this research aims to manufacture. Nanoparticles offer the opportunity to radically change how we prevent, diagnose and treat diseases through ground-breaking advances in targeted and time-controlled drug delivery, radiotherapy, cancer treatment and regenerative tissue engineering. However, to make this vision a reality, we need to engineer robust and scalable processes able to manufacture NPs consistently and with the desired throughput. This research will enable us to achieve this, contributing to making such products viable to the general public. Should this technology become established and readily available, it will greatly benefit the society at large, improving life-quality and life-expectancy.

Impact on knowledge. Integrating methods, skills and strengths of different disciplines, this interdisciplinary project will yield new knowledge of value to researchers and manufacturers involved in nanoscience and biomedicine. This work will assist them - both in industry and academia - to better understand, predict and control nanoparticle synthesis processes and to produce advanced functionalized nanomaterials reproducibly. Our industrial partners will directly benefit by actively engaging in the development of this technology, acquiring knowledge on fundamental aspects of continuous-flow nanoparticle synthesis and engineering, and being able to evaluate early this technology. By widely disseminating this work, we will help the broader community of scientists, engineers and manufacturers working in this area to understand this technology and realize its potential.

Impact on people. The researchers involved in this project will be highly trained in a wide range of areas, including nanotechnology, materials chemistry, flow chemistry, chemical engineering and microfluidics. They will bolster their ability to work in a highly interdisciplinary environment independently and in a team, acquiring technical and transferable skills that will enhance their professional development and employability.