Translating batch to flow: New procedures for optimizing iron oxide nanoparticle synthesis

Abstract

The precise tuning of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) to achieve controlled sizes is crucial for numerous applications. High temperature synthesis is most appropriate to achieve small, uniform sizes but suffers from challenges with reproducibility and scale-up. Flow chemistry/engineering approaches are gaining popularity to address nanoparticle (NP) production scalability, however they are plagued with issues in successfully translating batch to flow. This preview highlights a recent breakthrough in the design of a continuous flow reactor system capable of high temperature synthesis of IONPs with tuneable sizes, ranging 2 to 17 nm at gram-per-day scales, far exceeding batch capabilities.