Sugars, cocktails and neutrons – Tailoring colloidal interactions for the development of new formulation technologies

by Dr Adrian Sanchez-Fernandez (Lund University)

Monday 25 Jan 2021, 14:30 → 15:30 Europe/Berlin

Zoom Webinar

The formulation of new biologic active pharmaceutical ingredients remains as one of the major challenges in the field of pharmaceutical technology, and the preparation of stable and efficient drugs has direct implications on industry, economy and society. As such, the development of new preservation and delivery methods for biologic drugs is of major interest. Our research lines are mainly focused on the physicochemical aspects of formulation technology, aiming to build from the fundamental understanding of colloidal interactions towards the development of more efficient and sustainable formulation approaches.

Here, I will present an overview of our main research lines that deal with the self-assembly and co-assembly of surfactants and salts, and how the use of neutron scattering methods enables a detailed investigation of these systems. First, I will show our investigations on the behaviour of sugar-based surfactant in aqueous solution. These sustainable amphiphiles present the possibility of tuning the self-assembly and function through changes in the molecular architecture of the monomer (e.g. anomeric configuration and tail unsaturation). Second, the self-assembly of surfactants in deep eutectic solvents and how it is affected by hydrotropes will be presented. Deep eutectic solvents are green and cheap liquids obtained through the complexation of simple organic compounds. We have recently reported a systematic investigation of amphiphilic behaviour in these solvents, with potential applications in formulation technology and material science. Overall, these projects envision the realisation of the next generation of formulation approaches, using more sustainable and more efficient technologies.