(238c) Microfluidic Systems for Organic Chemical Reaction Engineering Synthesis

Microfabrication techniques and scale-up by replication have fueled spectacular advances in the electronics and telecommunications industries, and more recently, in microanalysis chips for chemical and biological applications. These systems promise to transform classical batch wise laboratory procedures into integrated systems capable of providing new understanding of fundamental chemical and biological processes as well as rapid, continuous discovery and development of new products with less use of resources and waste generation. Chemical microsystems combine microfluidic channels, chemical-synthesis-on-a chip, and microscale separation to enable multiple synthesis and separation steps. Synthesis applications are enhanced by chemical and biological information gained from integrating microfluidic components with sensors and actuators. Cases studies are drawn from chemical synthesis relevant to fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals, portable device for hydrogen generation and purification, synthesis of colloidal nanoparticles and quantum dots. Emphasis is placed on applications enabled by integrated microsystems as well as characterization of the underlying microfluidic reaction engineering concepts.