Continuous Nanomaterials Synthesis in Droplet Flow  Seminar

Moving from batch to continuous synthesis can offer many advantages, most notably in the high levels of control over product specification and quality. Whilst simple to implement, simple continuous-phase flow reactors that manipulate miscible streams of a single reagent phase are susceptible to reactor fouling. Whilst this problem can be mitigated to some extent by changing the channel wall chemistry, it can be removed completely by switching to droplet flow, in which an immiscible liquid is introduced into the flow system, forcing the reaction phase to divide into a succession of discrete droplets- thus keeping it safely encapsulated away from channel walls.

In this talk I will describe the operation of droplet flow reactors and their application to the controlled synthesis of colloidal nanocrystals (e.g. quantum dots) and optoelectronic polymers. Furthermore, I will describe how the stability offered by droplet flow reactors make them ideal systems for scaling-out (as opposed to scaling-up) as a strategy to boost materials production without changing process chemistry.