Reactions, Materials and Assemblies Under Rotation

The uses of rotary systems, e.g., centrifuges or evaporators, are commonplace in separations, but much less explored as the means of controlling the outcomes of chemical reactions or molecular-scale self-assembly or separation processes. Nevertheless, the idea of setting a reaction vessel on spinning is appealing because rotation can generate centripetal and shear forces that could be hard to maintain in a stationary frame of reference. In my talk, I will discuss how this concept can be used to couple macroscopic rotation to events taking place at much smaller scales, down to the molecular. I will illustrate how rotation can mediate self-organization of complex fluidic reactors (driving multistep reaction sequences), affect molecular conformations and enhance crystallization processes, help purify complex mixtures, or set up microgravity conditions for levitating reaction units.<br/><b>RELEVANT RECENT LITERATURE:</b> <i>Nature</i> <b>586</b>, 57-63, 2020; <i>Nature</i> <b>579</b>, 73-79, 2020, <i>Nat. Rev. Mat. </i><b>7</b>, 338–354, 2022.