Micromixer-assisted polymerization processes

Bally, Florence; Serra, Christophe A.; Hessel, Volker; Hadziioannou, Georges

doi:10.1016/j.ces.2010.07.026

Cited by 68 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…5). 22 The camera was equipped with a long-distance microscope using a Mitutoyo 5× objective, giving a corresponding pixel resolution of 3.5 μ m. Various devices fabricated with the optimized parameters of the laser and thermal bonding are shown in Fig. 5.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although a number of these micromixers have been built with two or three layers of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or grooves, and are quite small, these are only applicable to high flow rates, which 20,21 favor the transition of the flow within the channels. Micromixer applications are not limited to chemical reactors, 22 but are also helpful in the performance of enzyme reactions, 23 biological analyses, 24,25 and drug delivery, 26 and these applications do not always require fixed flow rates during the process. The demand has therefore arisen for a micromixer that can operate at different flow rates, which are required for a broad range of applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A “twisted” microfluidic mixer suitable for a wide range of flow rate applications

et al. 2016

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This paper proposes a new “twisted” 3D microfluidic mixer fabricated by a laser writing/microfabrication technique. Effective and efficient mixing using the twisted micromixers can be obtained by combining two general chaotic mixing mechanisms: splitting/recombining and chaotic advection. The lamination of mixer units provides the splitting and recombination mechanism when the quadrant of circles is arranged in a two-layered serial arrangement of mixing units. The overall 3D path of the microchannel introduces the advection. An experimental investigation using chemical solutions revealed that these novel 3D passive microfluidic mixers were stable and could be operated at a wide range of flow rates. This micromixer finds application in the manipulation of tiny volumes of liquids that are crucial in diagnostics. The mixing performance was evaluated by dye visualization, and using a pH test that determined the chemical reaction of the solutions. A comparison of the tornado-mixer with this twisted micromixer was made to evaluate the efficiency of mixing. The efficiency of mixing was calculated within the channel by acquiring intensities using ImageJ software. Results suggested that efficient mixing can be obtained when more than 3 units were consecutively placed. The geometry of the device, which has a length of 30 mm, enables the device to be integrated with micro total analysis systems and other lab-on-chip devices.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A “twisted” microfluidic mixer suitable for a wide range of flow rate applications

et al. 2016

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“…25 In a similar reaction, photoinitiation was applied to synthesize poly(methyl methacrylate) ( poly(MMA)). 33,35,36 PhotoCMP in flow reactors allowed methyl acrylate to polymerize in DMSO to over 90% conversion within 20 minutes while retaining pristine end group patterns. 26,27 Continuous efforts have been devoted to explore the versatility of this photo-induced technique over acrylate monomers, including solketal acrylate, hydroxyethyl acrylate and glycidyl acrylate homopolymer, or even poly(methyl acrylate)-b-poly(solketal acrylate).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ligand switch in photoinduced copper-mediated polymerization: synthesis of methacrylate–acrylate block copolymers

et al. 2015

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The use of photo-induced copper-mediated radical polymerization ( photoCMP) to synthesize mixed acrylate/methacrylate (methyl acrylate, MA and methyl methacrylate, MMA) block copolymers is investigated. Reactions in which only one type of ligand (Me 6 TREN) is used lead to unsuccessful outcomes of polymerization due to a mismatch in reactivity of the two monomers. A ligand exchange to PMDETA for methacrylate is required to obtain good block structures. Due to insufficient re-initiation of polyacrylates, methyl methacrylate needs to be polymerized first, before acrylate can be added for chain extension. A halogen exchange with CuCl is found to be beneficial to increase the re-initiation behaviour of the polyacrylate with respect to the acrylate chain propagation, but inherently compromises the livingness of the polymerization. Successful synthesis of block copolymers is only observed when the PMMA block is polymerized first and if all PMDETA ligand and residual monomer are removed prior to acrylate chain extension. The batch-type photoreactions are then transferred to a continuous flow tubular photoreactor, which leads to a significant acceleration of polymerizations, concomitant reduction in product dispersity and largely simplified block copolymer synthesis conditions. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See

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“…The actual reference market for polymers represents one of the largest, exceeding 2500 bn € per year in Europe 8. In the last decade, the application of MSR's for polymerization reactions has received an increasing amount of interest due to their added value to the field 9, 10. The main advantages of microfluidic systems for the synthesis of polymers, such as enhanced heat and mass transfer characteristics, can be attributed to the particular geometry and typical length scales of the devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling of Anionic Polymerization in Flow With Coupled Variations of Concentration, Viscosity, and Diffusivity

Cortese¹,

Noël²,

Croon³

et al. 2012

Macro Reaction Engineering

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This paper explains the reasons behind the very low polydispersity index (PDI) obtained in living anionic polymerizations in microstructured reactors. From the results, it can be explained that a narrow molecular weight distribution can be obtained due to the presence of a highly segregated flow behavior, even in microflow conditions, provided that the mean residence time is high enough. This paper investigates the feasibility of a living anionic polymerization reaction under micro‐fluidic conditions. This is accomplished using a multiphysics model that accounts for the changes in viscosity and diffusivity. These properties descend with the increase in weight of the polymer, and could not be un‐coupled from hydrodynamics and mass transfer. The results of the model are used to understand the reasons behind the very low PDI that can be experimentally obtained in microflow conditions. This leads to the conclusion that the increased viscosity almost “suppresses” the diffusion of the monomer, even at the very short characteristic lengths of a micro‐device. These conditions generate a fully segregated flow that yields an almost monodisperse polymer regardless of the effective residence time distribution encountered in the reactor. magnified image

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Micromixer-assisted polymerization processes

Cited by 68 publications

References 62 publications

A “twisted” microfluidic mixer suitable for a wide range of flow rate applications

A “twisted” microfluidic mixer suitable for a wide range of flow rate applications

Ligand switch in photoinduced copper-mediated polymerization: synthesis of methacrylate–acrylate block copolymers

Modeling of Anionic Polymerization in Flow With Coupled Variations of Concentration, Viscosity, and Diffusivity

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