Characteristic Features of Flow Microreactors

Flow microreactors can influence the very essence of chemical reactions because of the following characteristic features derived from their small size and flow nature  

Fast mixing [63, 64] Many chemical reactions involve combining two substances, and for this reason mixing to achieve homogeneity in solution is very important, especially for fast reactions. Mixing occurs due to molecular 

Another characteristic feature of microreactors derived from their much greater surface-to-volume ratios is that they make phase-boundary reactions such as gas-liquid, liquid-liquid, or solid-liquid reactions more efficient. This feature of flow microreactors is also advantageous for photochemical [66-75] and electrochemical [76-86] reactions, which have received significant attention from the viewpoint of environmentally benign syntheses. 

Residence time control The length of time that the solution remains inside the reactor is called the residence time. In flow reactors, the residence time increases with the length of the channel and decreases with the flow speed. In flow microreactors, the residence time can be greatly reduced by shortening the length of the microchannels. This feature of flow microreactors is extremely 

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In conclusion, continuous flow polymer synthesis will be an indispensable technology for laboratory research and production in industry. Various methods for polymer synthesis by virtue of the characteristic features of flow microreactors will be developed, and they will work together to help meet the demanding expectations of polymer chemistry in the future. 

Researchers will be freed from the limitations posed by the flask chemistry and will develop, with great anticipation, synthetic reactions that have been impossible with flasks, and will reveal the true values of flow reactions in the near future. Considerations needed in developing such flow reactions by taking advantage of characteristic features of flow microreactors will be discussed in the following chapters. 

A distinctive feature of microreactors is the microchannels for fluid flow. MMRs are mainly characteristic of such microchannels with anchored catalysts for reactions and miniature membranes to perform separation, which are formed on the porous ceramic or metal supports. Based on the configuration and architecture of the reactor, MMRs can be classified into two categories plate type and tubular type. 

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