Microfluidic devices for synthesizing nanomaterials - a review

In recent times, there has been rapid progress and achievement in the development of nanoparticle production in a microfluidic environment. Microfluidics technology harnesses the fluid mechanics to generate nanoparticles with a unique size and finely controllable shape that can be used for various applications like drug delivery, biological sciences, healthcare, and food industries. The nanoparticles are generally distinguished from fine particles to coarse particles due to their smaller size and unique material properties like chemical, physical, biological, and optical. However, the conventional methods require bulky instruments, expensive autoclaves, consume more power, high thermal loss, and require more time for the synthesis. Further, it is very challenging to automate, integrate, and miniaturize the conventional device on a single platform for synthesizing micro-and nanoscale particles. There has been considerable advancement in the development of microfluidic devices in the last few years for nanoparticle synthesis. The microfluidic device unveils several features such as portability, transparency in operation, controllability, and stability with a marginal reaction volume. The microfluidic-based nanoparticle synthesis also allows rapid processing and increased efficiency of the technique by using minimum peripherals for its operation. In this review article, we have discussed the microfluidic devices that are used for synthesizing various nanoparticles for different applications. This review summarizes the value-chain to develop microfluidic devices, including designs, fabrication techniques, and other related methodologies, to create nanoparticles in a controlled and selective manner.