Parallel microwave chemistry in silicon carbide reactor platforms: an in-depth investigation into heating characteristics

The heating behavior of silicon carbide reaction platforms under 2.45 GHz microwave irradiation was investigated with the aid of online thermoimaging cameras and multiple-channel fiber-optic probe temperature sensors placed inside the wells/vials of the silicon carbide microtiter plates. Microwave irradiation leads to a rapid and homogeneous heating of the entire plate, with minimal deviations in the temperature recorded at different positions of the plate or inside the wells. In temperature-controlled experiments using dedicated multimode reactors, solvents with different microwave absorption characteristics can be heated in parallel in individual wells/vials of the silicon carbide plate reaching the same set temperature. Due to the large heat capacity and high thermal conductivity of silicon carbide, the plates are able to moderate any field inhomogeneities inside a microwave cavity. Although the heating of the plates can be performed extremely efficiently inside a microwave reactor, heating and synthetic applications can alternatively be carried out by applying conventional conductive heating of the silicon carbide plates on a standard hotplate. Due to the slower heating of the silicon carbide material under these conditions, somewhat longer reaction times will be required.