Consecutive Polymerization Reactions Conducted in Continuous Microfluidic Reactors
Eugenia Kumacheva, Hung Pham, Wei Li and Stanislav Dubinski, Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, ON M5S 3 H^, Canada

Recently, synthesis of polymer particles in continuous microfluidic reactors allowed excellent control over microbead size, shape and morphology. Precise control of polymerization reactions in time and in a specific location of the microfluidic reactor has not been reported, yet.

We report continuous and scalable microfluidic synthesis of hybrid polymer particles, that is based on microfluidic emulsification of a mixture of monomers and highly controlled consecutive polymerization of these monomers. The first polymerization reaction is initiated by UV-irradiation, the second reaction is triggered by applying heat to the monomer droplets. The resulting method produces polymer particles with narrow excellent size distribution and controlled internal structure.

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Polymerization in Micro-Reactors

The Preliminary Program for 2007 Spring National Meeting