engleski

Versatile microfluidic systems applications: From biotransformation to extraction

In recent years, the interest of chemical engineers and biotechnologists has focused on technologies with micro dimensions (e.g., microreactors, microseparators, microheat exchangers, etc.) in order to find new and sustainable solutions for production, separation, detection and analysis. By reducing the dimensions of process equipment by several orders of magnitude, considerable economic savings, higher process reliability, and significantly lower environmental impact are achieved. In addition, process intensification leads to a reduction in the time required to bring products to the market. Literature indicates that about 50% of the reactions used in the production of fine chemicals and pharmaceutical products could be significantly improved by performing continuous processes in microfluidic systems, and for the majority (~44 %), microfluidics would be the best reaction system. In addition, most of the existing downstream processes require more than 70% of the total consumption of process aids such as solvents, energy and cooling water. Therefore, it is necessary to take a step forward and improve these technologies. Important advantages of microfluidics include a reduced amount of used solvents, reactants and catalysts, reduced exposure to harmful and toxic substances, and the ability to perform specific chemical and biochemical reactions. Improved process control allows good process selectivity and ensures the recovery of a product with a high degree of purity. In addition, due to the high flexibility of microfluidics, it is possible to fabricate them to specific process requirements. In this work, the efficient application of microfluidic systems for (i) biotransformation of catechol, (ii) extraction of polyphenols, and (iii) biodiesel synthesis is presented. The advantages of using microfluidic systems over classical reactor systems are also highlighted, without excluding the challenges in commercial application.

microfluidic devices ; extraction ; biotransformation

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