Method and apparatus for producing composite particles using supercritical fluid as plasticizing and extracting agent

Abstract

The present invention provides methods for producing composite particles using supercritical fluid as a plasticizing and extracting agent, composite particles formed in accordance with the methods and an apparatus for carrying out the methods. In accordance with the methods of the invention, a polymer, a wax and/or a lipid that is a solid at standard temperature and pressure is contacted with a supercritical fluid to form a melt, either before or after the polymer, wax and/or lipid has been contacted with a solution comprising a solute dissolved in a solvent. The supercritical fluid plasticizes the polymer, wax and/or lip and extracts the solvent from the solution, resulting in the formation of a two-fraction system including a first melt-rich fraction that includes the plasticized melt and fine particles of precipitated solute that are dispersed in the melt, and a second fraction that includes the supercritical fluid and the solvent. Expansion of the first fraction across a pressure drop results in the formation of composite particles that include the polymer, wax and/or lipid and the solute.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.