Location >> Date：2025-09-04
The rotor of a high-shear homogenizer is equipped with blades that rotate at high speeds, generating a powerful centrifugal force field. This creates a strong negative pressure zone at the center of the rotor, drawing the material into the space between the rotor and stator. Under centrifugal force, the material moves radially outward from the center. During this process, it is first subjected to intense mixing by the blades, followed by severe shear in the narrow gap between the blade tips and the inner surface of the stator ring.
The material then enters the narrow clearance between the inner rotor teeth and stator teeth, where mechanical forces and hydrodynamic effects induce extreme levels of shear, friction, impact, and inter-particle collision, leading to the disruption of dispersed-phase particles or droplets. As the linear speed of the rotor teeth increases from the inner to the outer rings, the intensity of mechanical processing rises accordingly. During its outward movement, the material undergoes progressively intensified shear, friction, impact, and collision forces, resulting in increasingly fine particle size and achieving the purpose of homogenization and emulsification.
Depending on the properties of the material, high-shear homogenizers can process samples under pressures ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 bar for 2 to 5 cycles. When the particle size of nanoscale particles is reduced below a certain threshold—approaching the scale of electron energy levels—quantum size effects may emerge, imparting a range of unique properties.
The application of nanotechnology enables the ultra-fine processing of traditional Chinese herbal medicines. Medicinal formulations treated with nanotechnology can significantly enhance drug absorption and efficacy in patients. This is particularly relevant for mineral-based traditional medicines, which have been processed using methods that have remained largely unchanged for millennia. Nanonization can improve therapeutic efficacy, enhance bioavailability, reduce toxicity, and greatly conserve limited herbal resources.
It is well established that the solubility of poorly soluble drugs is related to their specific surface area. Smaller particles possess a larger specific surface area, improved dissolution characteristics, and consequently, higher bioavailability. Nanosuspensions exhibit significantly greater stability compared to micron-scale suspensions. Therefore, modern drug development is no longer limited to exploring bioactive or chemically active components alone—it also encompasses the physical state of the drug. Altering the physical properties of pharmaceutical compounds has become a viable strategy in novel drug research.
High-shear homogenizers are capable of processing emulsions, liposomes, microemulsions, and solid-liquid suspensions to particle sizes below 100 nm with narrow size distribution.
