Application of Response Surface Methodology for Optimization of Paracetamol Particles Formation by RESS Method

Abstract

Ultrafine particles of paracetamol were produced by Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solution (RESS). The experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of extraction temperature (313–353 K), extraction pressure (10–18 MPa), preexpansion temperature (363–403 K), and postexpansion temperature (273–323 K) on particles size and morphology of paracetamol particles. The characterization of the particles was determined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. The average particle size of the original paracetamol was 20.8 μm, while the average particle size of paracetamol after nanonization via the RESS process was 0.46 μm depending on the experimental conditions used. Moreover, the morphology of the processed particles changed to spherical and regular while the virgin particles of paracetamol were needle-shape and irregular. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the process parameters. The extraction temperature, 347 K; extraction pressure, 12 MPa; preexpansion temperature, 403 K; and postexpansion temperature, 322 K was found to be the optimum conditions to achieve the minimum average particle size of paracetamol.