Development of noble reaction control technology by using ink-jet droplets

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20H02516
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 27020:Chemical reaction and process system engineering-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Maki Taisuke 京都大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (10293987)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: inkjet mixing / nano particle / lipid particle / janus particle

Outline of Final Research Achievements

New reaction process using an inkjet system was developed. An inkjet system was able to discharge tiny and uniform-sized droplets, which collided in the air and were used as a droplet reactor. The deformation behavior of the merged droplet had a significant effect on the mixing rate, and the rapid mixing within 1 ms was achieved.
By colliding droplets and achieving rapid mixing, several kinds of metal nanoparticles such as Au and Ag were successfully synthesized with their particle sizes controlled. Polymer-complex nanoparticles were also synthesized under the control of their size and morphology such as homogeneous or Janus particles. Furthermore, the inkjet system was used for developing on-demand lipid nanoparticles synthesis for drug delivery use. The system enabled to synthesize lipid nanoparticles at a lower substrate/lipid volume ratio than previously possible.

Free Research Field

反応工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

インクジェット技術の発展にともない，２次元のプリント技術を微小化したナノ配線技術，３次元造形，医療分野にもその用途が広がっている。しかし，インクジェット技術を化学合成に利用するという発想はこれまでになく，新規性が高く，学術的意義の大きい取り組みである。本研究ではインクジェット液滴を一つの反応器と見立てて，その混合速度と反応速度を精密に制御できることを示している。また，活性が高いが寿命が短い高機能化学製品をオンデマンドで微量な試薬で無駄なく製造できる技術としてインクジェット技術が十分に利用できることを明らかにしており，社会的意義も非常に大きいといえる。