Homemade 3-D printed flow reactors for heterogeneous catalysis

A 3D Printer in the Lab: Not Only a Toy

Although 3D printers are becoming more common in households, they are still under-represented in many laboratories worldwide and regarded as toys rather than as laboratory equipment. This short review wants to change this conservative point of view. This mini-review focuses on fused deposition modeling printers and what happens after acquiring your first 3D printer. In short, these printers melt plastic filament and deposit it layer by layer to create the final object. They are getting cheaper and easier to use, and nowadays it is not difficult to find good 3D printers for less than €500. At such a price, a 3D printer is one, if not the most, versatile piece of equipment you can have in a laboratory.

3D-printed capillary force trap reactors (CFTRs) for multiphase catalytic flow chemistry

Figure of 3D illustration of a capillary trap force reactor (CFTR) with transiently trapped liquid nanoparticle catalysts in dimple-shaped capillary traps in the presence of a gas–liquid segmented flow, for the hydrogenation of 1-hexene to n-hexane.

Current and future trends of additive manufacturing for chemistry applications: a review

Three-dimensional (3-D) printing, also known as additive manufacturing, refers to a method used to generate a physical object by joining materials in a layer-by-layer process from a three-dimensional virtual model. 3-D printing technology has been traditionally employed in rapid prototyping, engineering, and industrial design. More recently, new applications continue to emerge; this is because of its exceptional advantage and flexibility over the traditional manufacturing process. Unlike other conventional manufacturing methods, which are fundamentally subtractive, 3-D printing is additive and, therefore, produces less waste. This review comprehensively summarises the application of additive manufacturing technologies in chemistry, chemical synthesis, and catalysis with particular attention to the production of general laboratory hardware, analytical facilities, reaction devices, and catalytically active substances. It also focuses on new and upcoming applications such as digital chemical synthesis, automation, and robotics in a synthetic environment. While discussing the contribution of this research area in the last decade, the current, future, and economic opportunities of additive manufacturing in chemical research and material development were fully covered.

3D printing and continuous flow chemistry technology to advance pharmaceutical manufacturing in developing countries

The realization of a downward spiralling of diseases in developing countries requires them to become self-sufficient in pharmaceutical products. One of the ways to meet this need is by boosting the local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and embracing enabling technologies. Both 3D printing and continuous flow chemistry are being exploited rapidly and they are opening huge avenues of possibilities in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries due to their well-documented benefits. The main barrier to entry for the continuous flow chemistry technique in low-income settings is the cost of set-up and maintenance through purchasing of spare flow reactors. This review article discusses the technical considerations for the convergence of state-of-the-art technologies, 3D printing and continuous flow chemistry for pharmaceutical manufacturing applications in developing countries. An overview of the 3D printing technique and its application in fabrication of continuous flow components and systems is provided. Finally, quality considerations for satisfying regulatory requirements for the approval of 3D printed equipment are underscored. An in-depth understanding of the interrelated aspects in the implementation of these technologies is crucial for the realization of sustainable, good quality chemical reactionware.

P-aminophenol catalysed production on supported nano-magnetite particles in fixed-bed reactor: Kinetic modelling and scale-up

The aim of this work was to investigate on the possibility to use nano-magnetite particles supported on waste biomass as heterogeneous catalyst for the production of p-aminophenol starting from a well-known pollutant, p-nitrophenol, in fixed-bed reactors. The kinetic and the thermodynamic of the process was firstly studied in batch system, subsequently a first scale-up was performed using a glass column packed with the supported catalyst. The experimental data obtained with the column were interpreted in light of a suitable dynamic model. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism well described the process, obtaining from the data fitting a surface rate kinetic constant k = 2.68 × 10^-6 mol/m^2·h, an adsorption equilibrium constants for PNP and BH₄^- species equal to 20.07 l/mol and 1.83 l/mol, at 25 °C. The Eyring equation was used to fit the apparent kintic constant variation with the temperature, to estimate thermodynamic parameters, obtaining a ΔH = - 1145.68 kJ/mol and ΔS = -315.02 kJ/K·mol. The process was then simulated in PROII environment, investigating the influence of initial PNP flowrate, NaBH₄/PNP and reactor length/diameter ratios on PNP conversion, on required duty to maintain isothermal conditions and on pressure drops in the reactor.

Monolith catalyst design via 3D printing: a reusable support for modern palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions

The use of an additive manufacturing procedure for the modification of catalytic structures is currently gaining popularity in the field of catalysis.