Teflon-coated silicon microreactors: Impact on segmented liquid-liquid multiphase flows

Simon Kuhn, Ryan L. Hartman, Mahmooda Sultana, Kevin D. Nagy, Samuel Marre, Klavs F. Jensen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We describe fluoropolymer modification of silicon microreactors for control of wetting properties in chemical synthesis applications and characterize the impact of the coating on liquid-liquid multiphase flows of solvents and water. Annular flow of nitrogen gas and a Teflon AF (DuPont) dispersion enable controlled evaporation of fluoropolymer solvent, which in turn brings about three-dimensional polymer deposition on microchannel walls. Consequently, the wetting behavior is switched from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. Analysis of microreactors reveals that the polymer layer thickness increases down the length of the reactor from ̃1 to ̃13 μm with an average thickness of̃7 μm. Similarly, we show that microreactor surfaces can be modified with poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE). These PTFE-coated microreactors are further characterized by measuring residence time distributions in segmented liquid-liquid multiphase flows, which display reduced axial dispersion for the coated microreactors. Applying particle image velocimetry, changes in segment shape and velocity fluctuations are observed resulting in reduced axial dispersion. Furthermore, the segment size distribution is narrowed for the hydrophobic microreactors, enabling further control of residence distributions for synthesis and screening applications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)6519-6527
Number of pages9
JournalLangmuir
Volume27
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Surfaces and Interfaces
  • Spectroscopy
  • Electrochemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Teflon-coated silicon microreactors: Impact on segmented liquid-liquid multiphase flows'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this