Title |
Integrated 3D-printed reactionware for chemical synthesis and analysis
|
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Published in |
Nature Chemistry, April 2012
|
DOI | 10.1038/nchem.1313 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Mark D. Symes, Philip J. Kitson, Jun Yan, Craig J. Richmond, Geoffrey J. T. Cooper, Richard W. Bowman, Turlif Vilbrandt, Leroy Cronin |
Abstract |
Three-dimensional (3D) printing has the potential to transform science and technology by creating bespoke, low-cost appliances that previously required dedicated facilities to make. An attractive, but unexplored, application is to use a 3D printer to initiate chemical reactions by printing the reagents directly into a 3D reactionware matrix, and so put reactionware design, construction and operation under digital control. Here, using a low-cost 3D printer and open-source design software we produced reactionware for organic and inorganic synthesis, which included printed-in catalysts and other architectures with printed-in components for electrochemical and spectroscopic analysis. This enabled reactions to be monitored in situ so that different reactionware architectures could be screened for their efficacy for a given process, with a digital feedback mechanism for device optimization. Furthermore, solely by modifying reactionware architecture, reaction outcomes can be altered. Taken together, this approach constitutes a relatively cheap, automated and reconfigurable chemical discovery platform that makes techniques from chemical engineering accessible to typical synthetic laboratories. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 14 | 18% |
United States | 11 | 14% |
Japan | 7 | 9% |
Germany | 3 | 4% |
Italy | 2 | 3% |
India | 2 | 3% |
Canada | 2 | 3% |
Spain | 2 | 3% |
Australia | 1 | 1% |
Other | 2 | 3% |
Unknown | 30 | 39% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 56 | 74% |
Scientists | 16 | 21% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 4 | 5% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 16 | 2% |
United Kingdom | 9 | 1% |
Australia | 5 | <1% |
Japan | 3 | <1% |
Sweden | 2 | <1% |
France | 2 | <1% |
Belgium | 2 | <1% |
Denmark | 2 | <1% |
Brazil | 1 | <1% |
Other | 8 | 1% |
Unknown | 688 | 93% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 213 | 29% |
Researcher | 106 | 14% |
Student > Master | 101 | 14% |
Student > Bachelor | 64 | 9% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 33 | 4% |
Other | 122 | 17% |
Unknown | 99 | 13% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Chemistry | 253 | 34% |
Engineering | 122 | 17% |
Materials Science | 54 | 7% |
Chemical Engineering | 37 | 5% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 31 | 4% |
Other | 101 | 14% |
Unknown | 140 | 19% |