Continuous-flow reactor miniaturisation offers a safe, economical, and scalable approach to exploring the synthesis of high-value nanomaterials, such as polymer micelles with targeted size and morphology. However, common small-scale continuous-flow reactors often comprise tubes which can lack the mixing required for efficient nanoparticle formation, or involve narrow channels that can lead to blockages. The use of controlled radical polymerisation (CRP) techniques such as reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) facilitates the synthesis of precisely defined and tuneable polymers, though the non-ideal nature of continuous-flow processing can have implications on the level of control achieved. Herein, we present a miniature continuous stirrer-tank reactor (CSTR) cascade which enables continuous-flow RAFT polymerisation with active mixing throughout. The reactor characteristics such as heat transfer performance and residence time distribution can be directly related to the kinetics of the polymerisation and the molar mass dispersity of the resulting polymer. This relationship enables us to quantify the level of control which may be achieved using such a reactor for CRP. Subsequently, we aim to demonstrate the capability of this miniature CSTR cascade for preparing a variety of polymeric nanoparticles via dispersion RAFT polymerisation.

Continuous-flow RAFT synthesis of polymeric nanoparticles in a miniature CSTR cascade

ACS Spring 2022

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