Microfluidic Synthesis of Luminescent and Plasmonic Nanoparticles: Fast, Efficient, and Data-Rich

Microfluidic approaches to nanomaterial synthesis provide an effective means of making high quality products, with exquisite control over electronic, optical, and structural properties. Furthermore, microfluidic reactors integrating analytics and real-time reaction control have recently emerged as powerful tools in automating materials exploration and reaction parameter mapping, with a rapidity and efficiency that is inaccessible to traditional flask-based methods. Herein, the recent innovations in the microfluidic synthesis of photonic nanoparticles, whose varied luminescent and plasmonic properties have found great application in the biomedical and optoelectronic sciences, are presented. Special attention is placed on the achievements and promise of microfluidic approaches in automated multidimensional reaction parameter screening employing in situ optical characterization. In an extended outlook, the future of the field is explored, looking toward the integration of smart control systems and machine learning algorithms, and demonstrating how maximal positive impact can be achieved. Far from degrading or replacing the ingenuity of the experimentalist, these tools will provide new powers of exploration, augmenting the discovery process. Further, through automation and miniaturization, it is expected that such approaches will fulfill the moral imperative of maximizing the benefit derived from the natural resources consumed in conducting research.