Microreactor is a frontier and hot topic in the research of chemical engineering. It is an important platform of polymer synthesis in the development of new equipment

new technology

and new product

drawing attentions from academia and industry. Microreactors make possible well-controlled multi-phase flow

intensified mixing and mass/heat transport process

strictly-controlled reaction time

and modularized configuration in polymerization reactions. Comparing with the common batch reactors

some advantages of microreactors are producing polymeric materials with narrow molecular weight distribution

adjustable molecular architecture

or controlled macroscopic structure. In this review

the theoretical and technological advances in polymer synthesis using microreactors are introduced. Some further research issues are also discussed

including developing new polymerization process and new polymer product

measuring reaction kinetics

exploring chemical engineering fundamentals at micrometer scale

and scaling up the microreactor.