The Spinning Disk Reactor for Polymers and Nanoparticles

The preparation of reactive polyurethanes, the photopolymerization, and copolymerization of acrylates in emulsion as well as solution and the precipitation and reactive precipitation to prepare BaSO4 and silver nanoparticles, respectively, employing a spinning disk reactor (SDR) are summarized. The advantages of an SDR (excellent mass and heat transfer, minimal energy, and material usage, easy scale up as well as flexibility) are discussed. Where experiments are described comparing the SDR with traditional batch processes, known, optimized industrial batch processes are chosen. In all cases, the SDR could be shown to yield equivalent product quality while having procedural advantages. The advantages (ease of use, economy and safety) of using a spinning disk reactor are discussed. This is one of several tools in the process intensification toolbox, rather than a batch reactor for the synthesis of PU‐prepolymers, the photopolymerization of acrylates in emulsion and solution as well as for preparing nanoparticulate BaSO4 and Ag.