Micronization of silybin by the emulsion solvent diffusion method.

Micronized silybin particles were successfully prepared by emulsion solvent diffusion method. Uniform spherical and rod-shaped particles with a mean size of 2.48 and 0.89 microm could be obtained using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration of 0.1 wt% at 30 and 15 degrees C, respectively. The characterization of silybin particles by SEM and particle size distribution (PSD) indicated that with the increase of temperature from 15 to 30 degrees C, the as-prepared particles became bigger and had a tendency to turn into spherical shapes; with the increase of SDS concentration from 0.02 to 0.1 wt%, the span of PSD became narrower while the mean particle size kept almost unchanged. XRD patterns and FT-IR spectra showed that the spherical and rod-shaped silybin particles possessed decreased crystallinity; however, the chemical structure and components were similar to those of the commercial silybin powder. Dissolution tests demonstrated that both of the spherical and rod-shaped silybin particles exhibited significantly enhanced dissolution rate when compared to the commercial silybin powder.