Production of Liposome from Sphingomyelin by Ultrasonic Device under Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Sphingomyelin is a type of sphingolipid found in animal cell membranes and can be exploited as an amphiphilic liposome component in the manufacture of liposomes capsule. Here, the fabrication of liposomes from sphingomyelin suspension solution via ultrasonic–supercritical carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) was studied. The experiments were conducted at temperatures of 40 – 60 o C and pressures of 10 – 20 MPa in batch process. As a starting material, sphingomyelin powder was dissolved and dispersed in distilled water. The TEM images indicated that the liposomes products were successfully formed in spherical and spherical–like shape morphologies with bimodal size at 91 – 220 nm and 396 – 955 nm. The liposomes products with smaller diameter were obtained when the experiments were conducted at higher operating pressure. The DLS measurement showed that the size distribution of liposomes products was increased with increasing operating temperature due to the aggregation. Based on the result, this process seems a powerful technique for organic solvent free liposome production technology from sphingomyelin solution for industrial purposes.