Flow system and process for photoluminescent nanoparticle production

A continuous flow reactor system for manufacturing photoluminescent nanoparticles, comprising:

• a continuous flow reactor including a first reactor section to form core nanoparticles and a second reactor section to form core shell nanoparticles;
• a first flow channel in the first reactor section of the continuous flow reactor, the first flow channel receiving a core material solution from at least one inlet of the first reactor section to form core nanoparticles therein as the core material solution flows through the first flow channel;
• a second flow channel in the second reactor section of the continuous flow reactor, the second flow channel being coupled to and in fluid communication with the first flow channel to receive the core material solution carrying the core nanoparticles formed in the first reactor section, the second flow channel also receiving a shell material solution from at least one inlet of the second reactor section to allow it to blend with the core material solution to form a core shell material solution from which core shell nanoparticles form as the core shell material solution flows through the second flow channel,
• wherein the continuous flow reactor is made of light transparent material and thus the first and second flow channels in the first and second reactor sections include light transparent walls permitting light to transmit through the light transparent walls;
• a plurality of radiation detectors attached to outer surfaces of the first and second reactor sections to detect, through the light transparent material of the first and second reactor sections, radiation emissions transmitted from the core nanoparticles and the core shell nanoparticles as they form in the first flow channel in the first reactor section and the second flow channel in the second reactor section respectively, the radiation detectors including photoluminescence detectors,
• wherein the photoluminescence detectors include an assembly of optical fiber probes having multiple attachment points on the outer surface of the continuous flow reactor to collect radiation data in real time from multiple surface locations throughout the first flow channel and the second flow channel of the continuous flow reactor;
• and
• an automation module for automatically controlling the manufacturing process using a process recipe, the automation module including a computing device having a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing computer instructions and the process recipe, the computing device being configured to be in real-time communication with the radiation detectors to receive core nanoparticle radiation data along the first flow channel in the first reactor section and core shell nanoparticle radiation data along the second flow channel in the second reactor section in order to control the forming of both the core nanoparticles and the core shell nanoparticles in the continuous flow reactor based on the process recipe.