A facile and rapid method for synthesizing single crystal gold spherical or platelet (nonspherical) particles is reported. The reaction takes place at the interface of two immiscible liquids where the reducing agent decamethylferrocene (DmFc) was initially added to hexane and gold chloride (AuCl) to an aqueous phase. The reaction is spontaneous at room temperature, leading to the creation of Au nanoparticles (AuNP). A flow focusing microfluidic chip was used to create emulsion droplets, allowing the same reaction to take place within a series of microreactors. The technique allows the number of droplets, their diameter, and even the concentration of reactants in both phases to be controlled. The size and shape of the AuNP are dependent upon the concentration of the reactants and the size of the droplets. By tuning the reaction parameters, the synthesized nanoparticles vary from nanometer to micrometer sized spheres or platelets. The surfactant used to stabilize the emulsion was also shown to influence the particle shape. Finally, the addition of other nanoparticles within the droplet allows for core@shell particles to be readily formed, and we believe this could be a versatile platform for the large scale production of core@shell particles.

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The thermomorphic biphasic system of heptane and methanol in the presence of K 2 CO 3 was found to be a highly effective, yet simple, method for the production of biodiesel. This process reduced the number of steps in the production, thus generating less waste than the current industrial process. The facility in separation of biodiesel from its byproducts was evaluated by GC-MS and FT-IR analysis. The results showed a virtually undetectable level of glycerol and free fatty acid in the biodiesel. This thermomorphic biphasic system is thus a greener and more economically feasible process. In addition, the alkaline catalyst and methanol were successfully recycled up to five times without any detectable loss of reactivity.

<div>The interface between two immiscible liquids represent an ideal substrate for the assembly of nanomaterials. The defect free surface provides a reproducible support for creating densely packed ordered materials. Here a droplet flow reactor is presented for the synthesis and/ or assembly of nanomaterials at the interface of the emulsion. Each droplet acts as microreactor for a reaction between decamethylferrocene (DmFc) within the hexane and metal salts (Ag+/ Pd2+) in the aqueous phase. The hypothesis was that a spontaneous, interfacial reaction would lead to the assembly of nanomaterials creating a Pickering emulsion. The subsequent removal of the solvents showed how the Ag nanoparticles were trapped at the interface and retain the shape of the droplet, however the Pd nanoparticles were dispersed with no tertiary structure. To further exploit this, a one-step process where the particles are synthesised and then assembled into core-shell materials was proposed. The same reactions were performed in the presence of oleic acid stabilise Iron oxide nanoparticles dispersed within the hexane. It was shown that by changing the reaction rate and ratio between palladium and iron oxide a continuous coating of palladium onto iron oxide microspheres can be created. The same reaction with silver, was unsuccessful and resulted in the silver particles being shed into solution, or incorporated within the iron oxide micro particle. These insights offer a new method and chemistry within flow reactors for the creation of palladium and silver nanoparticles. We use the technique to create metal coated iron oxide nanomaterials but the methodology could be easily transferred to the assembly of other materials.</div><div><br></div>

The interface between two immiscible liquids represent an ideal substrate for the assembly of nanomaterials. The defect free surface provides a reproducible support for creating densely packed ordered materials. Here a droplet flow reactor is presented for the synthesis and/ or assembly of nanomaterials at the interface of the emulsion. Each droplet acts as a microreactor for a reaction between decamethylferrocene (DmFc) within the hexane and metal salts (Ag + / Pd 2+ ) in the aqueous phase. The hypothesis was that a spontaneous, interfacial reaction would lead to the assembly of nanomaterials creating a Pickering emulsion. The subsequent removal of the solvents showed how the Ag nanoparticles remain trapped at the interface and retain the shape of the droplet, however the Pd nanoparticles were dispersed with no tertiary structure. To further exploit this, a one-step process where the particles are synthesised and then assembled into core-shell materials was proposed. The same reactions were performed in the presence of oleic acid stabilised iron oxide nanoparticles dispersed within the hexane. It was shown that by changing the reaction rate and ratio between metal and iron oxide a continuous coating of metal nanoparticles can be formed on top of an iron oxide microsphere, or form a uniform composite. These insights offer a new method and chemistry within flow reactors for the creation of palladium and silver nanoparticles. We use the technique to create metal coated iron oxide nanomaterials but the methodology could be easily transferred to the assembly of other materials.