Phd in CHEMICAL PROCESSES FOR INDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMENT

Thesis title: The use of SDR technology for the production of nanoparticles of industrial interest

In this PhD thesis, spinning disk reactor ( SDR ) technology was validated as an alternative equipment to common reactors for the large-scale production of controlled-size nanoparticles and nanovesicles of industrial interest, in compliance with process intensification guidelines. This equipment was employed for the synthesis of both metal nanoparticles and lipid nanovesicles which find application in wastewater treatment and drug delivery, respectively. Since the interest in these nanomaterials is growing and market demand is continuously increasing, the industrial need to produce larger quantities to meet market demand is gaining more and more importance. In the first part of the work, silver ( AgNPs ) and nickel ferrite nanoparticles ( NFO ) were produced by adopting precipitation methods on the surface of the rotating disk. In both cases, it was possible to synthesize particles characterized by a narrow size distribution between 10 and 100 nm and with production yields in the order of gmin- 1. Moreover, a new mathematical model for a better insight of the operating conditions of this equipment was introduced. In the second part, SDR was employed and validated for the production of nanostructures such as liposomes with clinically acceptable size ( ranging between 20 and 150 nm ) used as carriers for drug delivery. This PhD thesis work was able to demonstrate on different case studies that SDR is a qualified apparatus for large-scale production of nanoparticles and nanovesicles of industrial interest such to aim BAT. It could replace or complement traditional reactors used by industries in the production of these nanomaterials since it allows on one hand to increase production capacities and to the other hand control the final product characteristics ( such as size and size distribution ) by varying the operating parameters of the reactor.