How many nanometers should catalyst nanoparticles be to optimize the course of the reaction? Researchers usually look for the answer through laborious, repetitive tests. At the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, a qualitatively new technique was developed to improve the process of such optimization in microfluidic systems. The size of the catalyst nanoparticles can now be changed interactively, during a continuous flow through the catalyst bed.

The performance of metal-carrier catalysts often depends on the size of metal nanoparticles. Usually, their size is determined over many consecutive, laborious tests. The method inflexible—once reactions have started, nothing can be done with the catalyst. At the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS) in Warsaw, the group of Dr. Jacinto Sa developed a new technique to optimize chemical reactions during the continuous microfluidic flow through the catalyst bed, and thus literally “on the fly.” This was achieved through interactive control of the size of the catalyst nanoparticles. Due to its simplicity and efficiency, this innovative technique should soon be used in the research on the new catalysts for the pharmaceutical and perfumery industries, among others.

“Flow catalysis is becoming more and more popular because it leads to the intensification of processes important for the industry. Our technique is the next step in this direction: We reduce the time needed to determine the sizes of catalyst nanoparticles. That means we can more quickly optimize the chemical reactions and even interactively change their course. An important argument here is also the fact that the entire process is carried out within a small device, so we reduce costs of additional equipment,” says Dr. Sa.