Special Issue: Design and Engineering of Microreactor and Smart-Scaled Flow Processes

Reaction-oriented research in flow chemistry and microreactor has been extensively focused upon in special journal issues and books. On a process level, this resembled the " drop-in " (retrofit) concept with the microreactor replacing a conventional (batch) reactor. Meanwhile, with the introduction of the mobile, compact, modular container technology, the focus is more on the process side, including also providing an end-to-end vision of intensified process design. Exactly this is the focus of the current special issue " Design and Engineering of Microreactor and Smart-Scaled Flow Processes " of the journal " Processes ". This special issue comprises three review papers, five research articles and two communications. Rahman and Rebrov have presented an overview of the application of microreactors in the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (GNP) [1]. Considering that reactant mixing is one of the most critical factors influencing the GNP synthesis, batch operating conditions commonly pose great limitations to both quality and scalability of the process. In contrast, synthesis in microflow overcomes this constraint and allows to individually affect the diverse elemental steps within GNP synthesis, which provides unique chances in process optimization. Choi et al. have given the state-of-the-art of the microreactor-assisted solution deposition (MASD) technique for fabricating compound semiconductors, as well as instructive insights in scaling-up the MASD process by implementing the numbering-up strategy [2]. Special focus has been given on the application of the MASD in cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin film deposition. The MASD process exhibits advantages over the conventional batch chemical solution method by enabling operation at lower temperature, enhancing reaction selectivity, reducing capital cost and providing perspectives for process scale-up.