US Patent 8124785 - Producing nanoparticles from ionic liquid

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8124785.html

Manufacture of nanoparticles is typically performed either in solution (i.e. wet processes) or in vacuum (i.e. dry processes). The problem is that wet process steps lead to unwanted aggregation of nanoparticles making uniform distribution difficult and dry processes are difficult to scale up to produce large volumes of nanopowders. This patent from Japanese researchers teaches an alternative technique which may overcome these problems. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for producing nanoparticles, comprising attaching atoms or molecules from a nanoparticle precursor to an ionic liquid, without stirring, by evaporating the atoms or molecules from the nanoparticle precursor, thereby producing nanoparticles, the nanoparticles precursor being in the form of a solid.

US Patent 7597278 - Method of producing purified medicinal nanoparticle suspensions

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7597278.html

Several methods have been developed to produce nanoparticle suspensions to facilitate the delivery or absorption of drugs. However, these methods can often result in the inclusion of contamination in the suspension. This patent based on research from Osaka University teaches a method capable of improving the purity of such nanoparticle suspensions. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of producing a medicinal nanoparticle suspension, comprising the steps of:

adding a poorly water-soluble or water-insoluble medicinal ingredient of a drug into a poor solvent to form a suspending solution; and

irradiating the suspending solution with a laser having a wavelength that is absorbed by the medicinal ingredient to grind the medicinal ingredient in the suspending solution to form nanoparticles.