Laboratory preparation of unilamellar liposomes often involves multiple steps carried out over several hours to achieve a monodisperse size distribution. Here, we present a methodology based on a recently introduced lipid self-assembly principle—stationary phase interdiffusion (SPI)—to prepare large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) of a monodisperse population in a short period of about 10 min. The stationary interface between a lipid–ethanol phase and an aqueous phase is created by a density difference induced convective flow in a horizontal capillary. The average size of the liposomes, as expected from the SPI principle, is modulated only by the temperature and the type of lipids. Lipid concentration, ethanol content, pH of the aqueous phase, and the time duration of the experiment have little influence on the mean diameter of the vesicles. This simple methodology can be easily carried out with a capillary and a micro-needled syringe and provides a rapid production tool for researchers requiring reproducible liposome suspensions. Refined natural lipids, based on soy and egg lecithin mixtures, yield LUVs in the range 100–200 nm, suitable for drug delivery applications.

单层脂质体的实验室制备通常涉及数小时内执行的多个步骤，以实现单分散大小分布。在这里，我们提出了一种基于最近引入的脂质自组装原理的方法-固定相互扩散（SPI）-在大约10分钟的短时间内制备单分散群体的大单层囊泡（LUV）。脂质-乙醇相和水相之间的固定界面是由水平毛细管中的密度差引起的对流产生的。如从SPI原理所预期的，脂质体的平均大小仅受脂质的温度和类型调节。脂质浓度，乙醇含量，水相的pH值以及实验的持续时间对囊泡的平均直径影响不大。这种简单的方法可以通过毛细管和微针注射器轻松进行，并为需要可重现脂质体悬浮液的研究人员提供了快速的生产工具。基于大豆和鸡蛋卵磷脂混合物的精制天然脂质可产生100-200 nm范围内的LUV，适用于药物递送应用。