Issue 36, 2022

Microflow chemistry and its electrification for sustainable chemical manufacturing

Abstract

Sustainability is vital in solving global societal problems. Still, it requires a holistic view by considering renewable energy and carbon sources, recycling waste streams, environmentally friendly resource extraction and handling, and green manufacturing. Flow chemistry at the microscale can enable continuous sustainable manufacturing by opening up new operating windows, precise residence time control, enhanced mixing and transport, improved yield and productivity, and inherent safety. Furthermore, integrating microfluidic systems with alternative energy sources, such as microwaves and plasmas, offers tremendous promise for electrifying and intensifying modular and distributed chemical processing. This review provides an overview of microflow chemistry, electrification, their integration toward sustainable manufacturing, and their application to biomass upgrade (a select number of other processes are also touched upon). Finally, we identify critical areas for future research, such as matching technology to the scale of the application, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle assessment.

Graphical abstract: Microflow chemistry and its electrification for sustainable chemical manufacturing

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
22 Mar 2022
Accepted
03 Aug 2022
First published
06 Aug 2022
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2022,13, 10644-10685

Microflow chemistry and its electrification for sustainable chemical manufacturing

T. Chen, Y. W. Hsiao, M. Baker-Fales, F. Cameli, P. Dimitrakellis and D. G. Vlachos, Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 10644 DOI: 10.1039/D2SC01684B

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