Liposomes as drug carriers for the delivery of therapeutic agents have triggered extensive research but it remains a grand challenge to develop a novel technology for enabling rapid and mass fabrication of monodisperse liposomes. In this work, we constructed a novel ultrasonic microfluidic technology, namely ultrasonic microreactor (USMR) with two different conjunction structure (co-flow and impinge flow, corresponding to USMR-CF and USMR-IF, respectively), to prepare uniform liposomes by antisolvent precipitation method. In this process, the monodisperse liposomes with tunable droplet sizes (DS) in 60-100 nm and a polydispersity index (PDI) less than 0.1 can easily be achieved by tuning the total flow rate, flow rate ratio, ultrasonic power, and lipid concentration within the two USMRs. Impressively, the USMR-IF is superior for reducing the PDI and tuning DS of the liposomes over the USMR-CF. More importantly, the ultrasonic can effectively reduce DS and PDI at the low TFR and support the IF-micromixer in reducing the PDI even at a high TFR. These remarkable performances are mainly due to the rapid active mixing, fouling-free property and high operation stability for USMR-IF. In addition, diverse lipid formulations can also be uniformly assembled into small liposomes with narrow distribution, such as the prepared HSPC-based liposome with DS of 59.6 nm and PDI of 0.08. The liposomes show a high stability and the yield can reach a high throughput with 108 g/h by using the USMR-IF at an initial lipid concentration of 60 mM. The results in the present work highlight a novel ultrasonic microfluidic technology in the preparation of liposomes and may pave an avenue for the rapid, fouling-free, and high throughput fabrication of different and monodisperse nanomedicines with controllable sizes and narrow distribution.

The influence of axial steric hindrance in α-diimine nickel catalysts on ethylene polymerization is paramount for enhancing the catalytic performance especially in terms of thermal stability and polymer molecular weights. In this study, a set of five nonsymmetrical 1,2-bis(arylimino)acenaphthene–nickel complexes, incorporating 2,6-bis(bis(4-fluorophenyl)methyl)-3,4,5-trimethoxyaniline and 2,4,6-trialkylaniline moieties, was prepared to tailor the catalytic attributes for ethylene polymerization. In-depth studies on the polymerization of ethylene, using two different cocatalysts and different reaction conditions, revealed exceptional catalytic activities for these precatalysts with activity levels as high as 20.3 × 10⁶ g mol⁻¹ h⁻¹ at 30 °C and high molecular weights of the obtained polyethylene with adjustable branching degrees and distributions. Reactions at elevated temperatures validated the enhanced thermal stability of Ni-Me₂ precatalysts, displaying a noteworthy activity of 1.4 × 10⁶ g mol⁻¹ h⁻¹ at 100 °C. Polyethylene derived from more sterically hindered nickel complexes exhibited relatively higher molecular weights and branching degrees compared to less hindered analogues. This trend was consistent across mechanical and elastic properties, which ranged from 6.1 MPa to 10.6 MPa and 26% to 49%, respectively. Moreover, the manipulation of branching degree by increasing the reaction temperature led to an elastic recovery of up to 63%, indicating potential formation of thermoplastic polyethylene elastomers.

Four examples of N,N-bis(aryl)butane-2,3-diimine–nickel(II) bromide complexes, [ArN=C(Me)-C(Me)=NAr]NiBr₂ (where Ar = 2-(C₅H₉)-4,6-(CHPh₂)₂C₆H₂ (Ni1), Ar = 2-(C₆H₁₁)-4,6-(CHPh₂)₂C₆H₂ (Ni2), 2-(C₈H₁₅)-4,6-(CHPh₂)₂C₆H₂ (Ni3) and 2-(C₁₂H₂₃)-4,6-(CHPh₂)₂C₆H₂ (Ni4)), disparate in the ring size of the ortho-cycloalkyl substituents, were prepared using a straightforward one-pot synthetic method. The molecular structures of Ni2 and Ni4 highlight the variation in the steric hindrance of the ortho-cyclohexyl and -cyclododecyl rings exerted on the nickel center, respectively. By employing EtAlCl₂, Et₂AlCl or MAO as activators, Ni1–Ni4 displayed moderate to high activity as catalysts for ethylene polymerization, with levels falling in the order Ni2 (cyclohexyl) > Ni1 (cyclopentyl) > Ni4 (cyclododecyl) > Ni3 (cyclooctyl). Notably, cyclohexyl-containing Ni2/MAO reached a peak level of 13.2 × 10⁶ g(PE) of (mol of Ni)⁻¹ h⁻¹ at 40 °C, yielding high-molecular-weight (ca. 1 million g mol⁻¹) and highly branched polyethylene elastomers with generally narrow dispersity. The analysis of polyethylenes with ¹³C NMR spectroscopy revealed branching density between 73 and 104 per 1000 carbon atoms, with the run temperature and the nature of the aluminum activator being influential; selectivity for short-chain methyl branches (81.8% (EtAlCl₂); 81.1% (Et₂AlCl); 82.9% (MAO)) was a notable feature. The mechanical properties of these polyethylene samples measured at either 30 °C or 60 °C were also evaluated and confirmed that crystallinity (X_c) and molecular weight (M_w) were the main factors affecting tensile strength and strain at break (ε_b = 353–861%). In addition, the stress–strain recovery tests indicated that these polyethylenes possessed good elastic recovery (47.4–71.2%), properties that align with thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs).