Laminar Flow-Based Electrochemical Microreactors

132 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006.In this thesis, first the underlying fundamentals of multistream laminar flow are introduced: diffusional broadening, the position and shape of the interface between adjacent streams, and methods to induce advection. In addition, gravity-induced reorientation of the interface between two liquids of different densities is discussed in more detail. Then three applications of multistream laminar flow-based electrochemical microreactors are presented: (i) biocatalysic reactors for efficient regeneration of nicotinamide cofactors for biocatalysis; (ii) membraneless fuel cells; and (iii) biofuel cells that utilize the ability to tailor the composition (e.g. pH) of the fuel and oxidant streams independently, which enables optimization of the reaction kinetics at the cathode and anode independently. Design, fabrication, and characterization are discussed for each application. Then their designs and operating parameters are optimized based on the knowledge of transport phenomena in order to improve performance.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD