C5 high pressure homogenizer

Nanocurcumin was prepared according to methods described in our previous report (24 (link)). Briefly, 10 g of curcumin (Sigma, USA) was dissolved in 2.5 liters of distilled ethanol at room temperature and filtered to obtain a clear solution. This solution was then stirred in a high-speed homogenizer (T 25 digital Ultra-Turrax) at 12,000 to 15,000 rpm, and the required volume of Milli Q water containing 0.1% citric acid (Merck, India) was added to it slowly over a period of 1 h until the ethanol concentration reached 40% (vol/vol) and curcumin particles started to precipitate from the solution. The entire suspension was then homogenized over ice in a high-pressure homogenizer (Avestin C5 high-pressure homogenizer) at 30,000 lb/in² for 30 cycles. The aqueous suspension was then made to 0.1% polysorbate 80 (Sigma, USA), homogenized at 12,000 to 15,000 rpm (T 25 digital Ultra-Turrax; IKA, USA) again for 1 h, and filtered. The filtered slurry was dried at 80°C in an oven to obtain curcumin powder. The particle size was determined by using a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (JEM 2100F; JEOL, USA).

Nanoparticles containing Ga(III) or rifampin were formulated and manufactured using high pressure homogenizer (Avestin C5 high-pressure homogenizer, Avestin Inc, Ottawa, ON, USA) and characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS, a Malvern Zetasizer Nano Series Nano-ZS, Malvern Instruments Inc., Westborough, MA, USA) and SEM, as reported before.[20 (link)]

To 20 ml of 1% HEPES solution, 200 mg of Ga-TP, 100 mg of pluronic p407 polymer, 100 mg of sucrose was added and stirred overnight in dark conditions. The obtained mixture was homogenized until consistent size and polydispersity was attained. For preparation of suspensions by homogenization, mixtures were transferred to an Avestin C5 high-pressure homogenizer (Avestin Inc, Ottawa, ON) and extruded at 20,000 pounds per square inch until the consistent particle size was attained. Particle size, polydispersity (PDI), and surface charge (zeta potential) were determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) using a Malvern Zetasizer Nano Series Nano-ZS (Malvern Instruments Inc, Westborough, MA). The resulting nanoparticle suspension was washed two times with 1% HEPES solution containing 0.5% p407 polymer through centrifugation (10000 rpm, 30 min at 4°C). The final pellet was resuspended in 1% HEPES and homogenized again to get the consistent polydispersity and size.