Thin-film flow technology in controlling the organization of materials
and their properties
Abstract
Centrifugal and shear forces are produced when solids or liquids rotate.
Rotary systems and devices that use these forces, such as dynamic
thin-film flow technology, are evolving continuously, improving material
structure-property relationships at the nanoscale, representing a
rapidly thriving and expanding field of research high with green
chemistry metrics, consolidated at the inception of science. The vortex
fluidic device (VFD) provides many advantages, with fluidic waves
causing high shear and producing large surface areas for micro-mixing as
well as rapid mass and heat transfer, enabling reactions beyond
diffusion control in the processing. Combining these abilities allows
for a green and innovative approach to altering materials for various
research and industry applications by controlling small-scale flows and
regulating molecular and macromolecular chemical reactivity,
self-organization phenomena, and the synthesis of novel materials. This
review highlights the aptitude of the VFD as clean technology, with an
increase in efficiency for a diversity of top-down, bottom-up, and novel
material transformations, benefiting from effective vortex-based
processing for the transformation of material structure-property
relationships.