Microfluidic synthesis of nanoparticles.

Duration: 01.10.2011- 30.09.2013

Sponsor: DEL

Dr. Taifur Rahman

Controllable and reproducible synthesis of nanoparticles with strict size and shape homogeneity is often a daunting task for a material chemist. This is due to the fact that in a conventional batch process, minor thermal fluctuation or inaccuracy in reagent mixing inflicts imperfection and/or polydispersity in the produced nanoparticle population. In a microfluidic reactor reagent dispensing, mixing and heat transfer are highly controlled in both space and time. Hence, microfluidics is becoming a powerful tool to synthesize nanomaterials with desired quality. In this project we focus on the utilization of droplet microfluidics to produce plasmonic and magnetic nanoparticles with stringent quality control. We generate nanolitre-size aqueous droplets in microchannel which act as individual ''reaction flasks'' and we control the reaction inside such droplets with high precision to produce superior quality nanomaterials. The continuous flow microreaction system has great potential for scaling-up.