Gold catalysis using conventional flask-based systems is well-known.1  Though there are several advantages of this approach, there are few drawbacks such as uneven mixing of reactants which could sometimes lead to irreproducibility of the products, difficulty in separation of the catalyst after reactions and also reusability of the catalyst is minimal. Flow reactors, on the other hand, when applied in catalysis have several advantages such as improved mixing, increased diffusion, precise control of temperature and pressure, continuous feed of the reactant solutions and enhanced safety.2  Gold nanoparticles incorporated in microfluidic reactors have previously reported for enhanced catalytic activity.3,4   However, the possibility of contamination of the reactants into undesirable surfaces is high due to the high capillary forces of micro sized channels. The reactant flows could also cause clogging and blockage of the channels when the microfluidic systems are continuously used for an extensive period of time.5   We have recently introduced the concept of millifluidic reactor chips and demonstrated their advantages for higher throughput controlled synthesis over microfluidic chips for synthesis of ultra-small nanoclusters.6-8  Here we show the utility of these millifluidic chips for morphology-controlled in situ growth of gold microstructures and their catalysis for conversion of 4-Nitrophenol to 4-Aminophenol and Ferricyanide to Ferrocyanide reactions.References A. S. K. Hashmi, Chem. Rev., 2007  , 107, 3180.A. R. Bogdan et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007  , 46, 1698.N. Wang et al., Angew. Chem. 2009  , 121, 4838.J. R. Adleman et al., Nano Lett. 2009  , 9, 4417.G. M. Whitesides et al., Phys. Today 2001  , June, 42.S. Biswas et al., Small 2012  , 8, 687.Y. Li et al.,ChemPhysChem 2012  , 13,177.Y. Li et al., Chem. Eng. J. (Submitted)

Gold catalysts immobilized within millifluidic chip reactor

245th National Meeting (2013)

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