Nitrogen supported solvent evaporation using continuous-flow microfluidics

Abstract

In this work we demonstrate a continuously operating microfluidic device for solvent removal and exchange for chemical syntheses by means of a supporting gas. The glass device consists of three sections: (i) three merging microchannels to create an annular gas–liquid stream; (ii) a serpentine channel with a heater underneath to allow efficient evaporation of the volatile solvent; (iii) a section with side capillaries to separate the liquid from the gas phase. We demonstrate the performance of the device for the removal of acetonitrile from an acetonitrile–water mixture. We achieved efficient removal of acetonitrile within a few seconds for flow rates of 20–30 μL min⁻¹ and a nitrogen pressure of 1.2 bar. In three steps, acetonitrile was reduced from 50 wt% in the feed solution to 1 wt% in the final solution. We believe that the device can be easily applied to other solvent mixtures.