Sourcing medicinal excipient materials of interest in extreme environments from local resources

Researchers: Professor Volker Hessel; Dr Nam Nghiep Tran; Professor Nigel Cook

(Adelaide-Nottingham Joint PhD)

We have begun to use pure Earth materials as excipients for tablet formulation. These either have analogues on the moon or, more often, can be leached from lunar minerals of which they are part.

This PhD research project requires a candidate with a microfluidic and/or minerals processing background and will test the applicability of both lunar-simulants and real lunar materials for application in off-earth pharmaceutical compounding. Realistically, the lunar materials will require leaching and chemical post-processing (extraction) to deliver a finished product and the PhD research is expected to provide promising new avenues in this direction. Where feasible, the research will employ microfluidic technologies to achieve the desired chemical processing. Since most lunar materials are somewhat inert, innovative methodologies will be required to achieve intensification of the leaching process.