Scale-up potential of photochemical microfluidic synthesis by selective dimension enlarging with agitation of microbubbles

Abstract

Selective dimension enlarging integrated with numbering-up is of great importance for microfluidics. However, its feasibility for photochemical processes remains unclear due to the strict requirements of uniform irradiation. Herein, a novel method for selective dimension enlarging in photochemical production was developed by introducing microbubbles. A membrane dispersion microreactor was employed to generate microbubbles for efficient mixing and uniform absorption of photons. With an increased channel size from 0.6 mm to 4 mm, it allowed a 41-fold increase in productivity while maintaining the microscale effect. The yield of was increased by 44–70 % with 83–86% less side products, compared with those of the homogeneous and segmented flow systems. In addition, a theoretical method combining CFD simulation was developed to predict the change of mixing time with device scales, which could be used to assess the practicality by selective dimension enlarging for different photochemical microfluidic processes.