Microfluidic dual loops reactor for conducting a multistep reaction

Abstract

Precise control of each individual reaction that constitutes a multistep reaction must be performed to obtain the desired reaction product efficiently. In this work, we present a microfluidic dual loops reactor that enables multistep reaction by integrating two identical loop reactors. Specifically, reactants A and B are synthesized in the first loop reactor and transferred to the second loop reactor to synthesize with reactant C to form the final product. These individual reactions have nano-liter volumes and are carried out in a stepwise manner in each reactor without any cross-contamination issue. To precisely control the mixing efficiency in each loop reactor, we investigate the operating pressure and the operating frequency on the mixing valves for rotary mixing. This microfluidic dual loops reactor is integrated with several valves to realize the fully automated unit operation of a multistep reaction, such as metering the reactants, rotary mixing, transportation, and collecting the product. For proof of concept, CdSeZn nanoparticles are successfully synthesized in a microfluidic dual loops reactor through a fully automated multistep reaction. Taking all of these features together, this microfluidic dual loops reactor is a general microfluidic screening platform that can synthesize various materials through a multistep reaction.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

microfluidics / multistep reaction / rotary mixing / nanoparticle

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Global Research Laboratory(GRL) Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT(2015K1A1A2033054).

Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11705-017-1680-9 and is accessible for authorized users.

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