Chemical processing microsystems comprising high-temperature parallel flow microreactors

Abstract

A chemical processing microsystem useful for identifying and optimizing materials (e.g., catalysts) that enhance chemical processes or for characterizing and/or optimizing chemical processes is disclosed. The chemical processing microsystem comprises a plurality of microreactors 600 and, in a preferred embodiment, a plurality of microseparators 900 integral with the chemical processing microsystem 10. The microreactors 600 are preferably diffusion-mixed microreactors formed in a plurality of laminae that include a modular, interchangeable candidate-material array 100. The material array 100 comprises a plurality of different candidate materials (e.g., catalysts), preferably arranged at separate, individually addressable portions of a substrate (e.g., wafer). The microseparators 900 are similarly formed in a plurality of laminae that include a modular, interchangeable adsorbent array 700. The adsorbent array 700 comprises one or more adsorbents, preferably arranged at separate, individually addressable portions of a substrate to spatially correspond to the plurality of different candidate materials. Modular microfluidic distribution systems are also disclosed. The chemical processing microsystem can be integrated into a material evaluation system that enables a comprehensive combinatorial material science research program.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the field of combinatorial chemistry and, in preferred applications, to the field of combinatorial materials science. In particular, the invention relates to systems and methods employing microfluidic devices in chemical processes, for characterizing and optimizing such chemical processes and for identifying materials that enhance such chemical processes. Preferred embodiments of the invention relate to microchemical processing systems, to diffusion-mixed microreactors, and to methods for identifying or optimizing heterogeneous catalysts. Combinatorial chemistry refers generally to methods for synthesizing a collection of chemically diverse materials and to methods for rapidly testing or screening this collection of materials for desirable performance characteristics and properties. Combinatorial chemistry approaches have greatly improved the efficiency of discovery of useful materials. For example, material sc...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

As such, the devices, systems, and methods of the present invention offer distinct advantages over the prior-art. The chemical processing Microsystems of the present invention provide efficient means for loading and unloading candidate materials being evaluated, for supplying reactants to a plurality of microreactors, for controlling of the reaction conditions in a plurality of microreactors, and for evaluating the candidate materials for specific properties of interest (e.g., catalytic activity). Additionally, the instant chemical processing Microsystems can be employed for screening candidate materials such as catalysts with very high-throughput and with a large degree of anal

Problems solved by technology

Although such high-throughput synthesis and screening methodologies are conceptually promising, substantial technical challenges exist for application thereof to specific research and commercial goals.

While combinatorial chemistry applications have been contemplated, the various chemical microreactor designs reported to date, however, have not been incorporated into systems suitable for large-scale, or even moderate-scale, combinatorial chemistry research, and particularly, for combinatorial material science research directed to heterogeneous catalyst screening for identification and/or optimization.

), none of these reactors are satisfactory for combinatorial materials science applications.

These and other microreactor designs known in the art do not address important concerns such as the loading, and/or unloading of larger numbers of candidate materials (e.g., catalysts) for s

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