Flow invariant droplet formation for stable parallel microreactors.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26902825.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms10780 and PMC identifier 4766398.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The translation of batch chemistries onto continuous flow platforms requires addressing the issues of consistent fluidic behaviour, channel fouling and high-throughput processing. Droplet microfluidic technologies reduce channel fouling and provide an improved level of control over heat and mass transfer to control reaction kinetics. However, in conventional geometries, the droplet size is sensitive to changes in flow rates. Here we report a three-dimensional droplet generating device that exhibits flow invariant behaviour and is robust to fluctuations in flow rate. In addition, the droplet generator is capable of producing droplet volumes spanning four orders of magnitude. We apply this device in a parallel network to synthesize platinum nanoparticles using an ionic liquid solvent, demonstrate reproducible synthesis after recycling the ionic liquid, and double the reaction yield compared with an analogous batch synthesis.