Droplet-based Microfluidic Device for the Synthesis of Silica Nanoparticles

Abstract

Microfluidic reactors are advantageous for nanomaterial synthesis due to their capability to providecontrolled reaction environment. In this work, a droplet based microfluidic reactor is designed for thesynthesis of silica nanoparticles. The synthesis is carried out in a very controlled environment and a uniformsize and shape distribution is achieved. The classical synthesis protocol for silica nanoparticles is modifiedto use nonpolar solvents in the reaction so that this platform can later be used for coating hydrophobicnanomaterials. Therefore, this study not only presents a new device but also a new synthesis method. Theresults are compared with conventional batch wise synthesis methods and the obtained nanoparticlesshowed better size distribution.