Device technology, micro-scale

Developing micro-scale technologies have allowed the production of advanced small-scale devices, commonly referred to as microelectromechanical [MEM] systems, which find applications in many areas, such as optics and sensors [23, 60]. The need to power these devices is a driving force for the development of small-... 

Nano-materials of polymers are the important issue in many high-technology fields, such as micro-electronics, dmg delivery and device technology. If polymer chains are compressed into various geometries of nanoscale compartments, such as ultra-thin films, nano-pores and nano-spheres, their deformation causes an entropy loss of chain conformatiOTi. Therefore, deformatiOTi of polymer chains often influences their physical performances. The blob model has been widely applied in the scaling analysis of single-chain crmformation under nano-confinement (Rubinstein and Colby 2003). 

Additionally, the influence of the life time of the micro-structured devices as well as the expenditure of the peripheral equipment was estimated in order to obtain insight into the ecological hot-spots of the system. A conventional macro-scaled semi-continuously operated batch process was chosen as a reference process. The comparison of both technological systems was performed by means of the two-step synthesis of m-anisaldehyde serving as model reaction. 

There is growing interest in a variety small micro power sources that deliver a few Watts. Such systems, which can provide direct mechanical power or serve as battery alternatives for electronic devices, often rely on the flow and reaction of fuels in small channels. In addition to fuel cells, other technologies include thermoelectrics and small-scale internal-combustion engines. These applications require attention to low-speed chemically reacting flow, often with significant surface interactions. 

Then, a survey of micro reactors for heterogeneous catalyst screening introduces the technological methods used for screening. The description of microstructured reactors will be supplemented by other, conventional small-scale equipment such as mini-batch and fixed-bed reactors and small monoliths. For each of these reactors, exemplary applications will be given in order to demonstrate the properties of small-scale operation. Among a number of examples, methane oxidation as a sample reaction will be considered in detail. In a detailed case study, some intrinsic theoretical aspects of micro devices are discussed with respect to reactor design and experimental evaluation under the transient mode of reactor operation. It will be shown that, as soon as fluid dynamic information is added to the pure experimental data, more complex aspects of catalysis are derivable from overall conversion data, such as the intrinsic reaction kinetics. 

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