Flow microreactors with micrometer-sized diameters have the following three characteristics:
High-Speed Mixing
The diffusion time of substances is proportional to the square of the diffusion distance. While the rotation radius of a magnetic stirrer in a typical flask is about a few centimeters, the path diameter of a flow microreactor is in the micrometer range. This means the diffusion distance is extremely short, resulting in significantly faster mixing speeds.
Precise Reaction Time Control
In flow synthesis, the residence time of the solution passing through the flow path can be controlled by adjusting the flow rate and the volume of the flow path. Particularly, flow microreactors have fine internal structures, allowing for experimental operations on a time scale in milliseconds, which is not achievable by manual addition of reagents.
Precise Temperature Control
In general, volume is proportional to the cube of the length, while surface area is proportional to the square of the length. For example, if the length is reduced to one-tenth, the surface area becomes one-hundredth, and the volume becomes one-thousandth. In this case, the specific surface area (surface area per unit volume) becomes ten times larger. Therefore, flow microreactors with microchannels can be said to be reactors with very large specific surface areas. In organic reactions, heat transfer through water baths or oil baths is conducted via the contact surface of the reactor, so the large specific surface area allows for precise temperature control and rapid heating/cooling.
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