Reconfigurable Continuous Flow Reactor for Manufacturing of Complex Nanomaterials

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

This grant supports research that leads to new knowledge in the manufacture of emerging nanomaterials such a quantum dots and nanorods. The ability to make materials so small that changing their size and shape drastically alters their properties is paving new paths to a wide range of applications from displays to solar energy conversion to medical imaging. However, these materials are usually made in small batches that can easily lead to variations in quality and difficulties in scaling up. As nanomaterials become more complex for additional functionality, difficulties in their manufacture and quality control quickly escalate. Continuous flow reactors carry chemical reagents through a flowing stream, allowing for high-throughput fabrication with tight control over reaction parameters. Continuous flow reactors with inline monitoring capabilities and reconfigurability can lead to versatility in the manufacture of diverse range of nanomaterials with high quality. This award allows fundamental studies to enable continuous manufacture of emerging complex nanomaterials. The knowledge gained from this project helps to accelerate advances in a variety of industries including energy, medical and electronics, thus advancing national prosperity and security. Multi-faceted challenges to be tackled here provide educational and training opportunities for the students involved to be better prepared to become leaders in interdisciplinary science and engineering fields. As multiple components of nanometer dimensions are brought together for the precise engineering of their characteristics and behavior, exciting new capabilities arise. However, viable manufacturing of nanomaterials that are becoming increasingly complex must ensure not only high crystallinity and narrow size dispersion but also uniformity in shape and composition despite each added component leading to an exponentially increasing number of possible products. The modular and reconfigurable design and construction of a continuous flow reactor setup with in situ optical measurement capability, developed in this project, helps to address these critical issues by allowing precise control over shape, size, and composition. The inclusion of high-throughput screening using real-time product monitoring provides a better understanding of how each one of a vast number of processing parameters affects nucleation and growth at the individual particle and ensemble levels. The success of this project should help to establish foundational knowledge that enables scalable nanomanufacturing of a wide range of complex nanomaterials with exceptional control over their structure and properties. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.