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Esterification in an autonomously controlled reactor: exploiting the chemo-mechanical properties of a smart organogel
Citation Link: https://doi.org/10.15480/882.17275
Publikationstyp
Journal Article
Date Issued
2026-06-04
Sprache
English
TORE-DOI
Citation
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research (in Press): (2026)
Publisher DOI
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Iron(III)-reinforced poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) organogel beads inside a casing give an intrinsic chemo-mechanical valve. The valve was incorporated in a setup with a stirred reactor for the heterogeneously acid-catalyzed esterification of acetic acid and ethanol. A noninvasive gravimetric control loop was used to validate the autonomous modulation of the hydrodynamic residence time in response to the composition of the reaction mixture. Operating at a 1:1 molar feed ratio, the valve restricted the initial outflow to less than 7 mL·min–1 and autonomously ramped up to a steady state flow of 135 mL·min–1 as the esterification approached thermodynamic equilibrium. The valve opening rate was about half of the reaction rate. The ionically reinforced organogel had enough resilience inside the casing for multiple uses. Soft actuators were thus successfully applied for reaching a self-regulating reactor loop driven by intrinsic chemical feedback of a smart material.
DDC Class
660: Chemistry; Chemical Engineering
660.2: Chemical Engineering
540: Chemistry
Funding(s)
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esterification-in-an-autonomously-controlled-reactor-exploiting-the-chemo-mechanical-properties-of-a-smart-organogel.pdf
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