Engineered
ZnO quantum dots (E-QDs) are sought-after nanostructures
in healthcare and optoelectronic industries, necessitating a paradigm
shift toward high-throughput continuous flow platforms, the crux to
whose successful design and performance lies in comprehending the
nucleation-growth kinetics, defect engineering, and reaction dynamics.
This work investigates the synergistic interplay of enhanced hydrodynamics
and heat–mass transfer in the helical coil reactor, fostering
rapid nucleation-growth-driven E-QDs fabrication. We integrated computational
fluid dynamic modeling, and comprehensive experimentation for producing
E-QDs with record-high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) (∼89%
in the yellow-green spectrum) by carefully creating oxygen vacancies
via a novel reproducible protocol. Dean vortices formed due to the
helical geometry facilitated ultrafast mixing and accelerated reaction
kinetics, yielding colloidally stable E-QDs in gram-scales [ζ
= −39.7 mV, polydispersity index (PDI) ∼0.22] with a
narrow particle size distribution (average particle size ∼4.5
nm). Contrastingly, the conventional batch route produced less stable
E-QDs with ζ value of −15.3 mV, PDI ∼0.41, and
diminished PLQY (∼40%) because of inadequate process control,
batch-to-batch variability due to poor mixing, and heat transfer.
The simple, economical, in-house-fabricated flow reactor manifested
∼90% increment in yield and reduced product cost. Thus, this
research demonstrated the benefits of simulation-driven process engineering
and reactor design in catalyzing QDs-based innovations.
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