Síntese de nanopartículas por métodos microfluídicos

Abstract

Obtaining micro and nanoparticles with high structural and chemical control is in great demand given the continuous need to increase the performance of a series of processes and devices. The most common processes for synthesizing nanostructures consist of bottom-up processes, especially for the synthesis of silicon dioxide (SiO2), which are among the metal oxides applied in biomedical areas. Such methods make it possible to obtain particles with monodispersed and particles with nanometric dimensions. To achieve this, the synthesis of nanoparticles must be well controlled with well-defined parameters so that the properties of the final material are not affected. One approach to increasing efficiency in obtaining particles is continuous flow synthesis, and a tool for this is the use of microfluidics, however, related research is still not properly appreciated by the materials development community, representing an area that must still be properly explored, so that synthesis protocols are well established. This work aims to investigate the production of nanostructured particles of metal oxides, especially SiO2, from a microfluidics device, correlating the experimental parameters and characteristics of the device. Initially, the microreactor was obtained using a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach using more accessible materials than the traditional methodology, with the architecture designed in CAD. Subsequently, the influence of the concentration of precursors, from the same stock solutions, and the increase in the flow of reagents inserted into the microfluidics system was investigated. Finally, it was possible to observe particles with an average size between 78 and 118 nm and with low dispersion, much smaller than when obtained by the traditional batch method.