Novel flow microreactor with blood capillary network-like microchannels

A flow microreactor with microchannels has been widely used for biocatalytic synthesis. For high throughput production, multiple microreactors are assembled into a single module to increase the number of microchannels available for biocatalytic synthesis. However, the assembled microreactors inevitably waste much their own space for the precise assembly (e.g. space for screw holes), indicating difficulty of drastic increase in density of microchannels. Increase in the microchannel density means increase in the performance per unit volume of the microreactors. In this study, we propose a novel microreactor that has a great potential to increase in the microchannel density. Blood capillary network-like microchannels in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix were created using sacrificial cotton candy microfibers. The mean residence time of the microreactor prepared using 150 ± 20 mg cotton candy (MR150) was about twice as long as that prepared using 20 ± 5 mg cotton candy (MR20). Moreover, productivity of biodiesel of MR150 was about three times higher than that of MR20. These results show that the density of microchannels and performance per unit volume of our microreactor can be improved only by increasing the amount of cotton candy enclosed in PDMS.