AAAR 31st Annual Conference
October 8-12, 2012
Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Nanoparticle Synthesis and In-Situ In-Flight Functionalization in an Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactor
CHRISTOPHE DELVAL, Marc Leparoux, Christian Jaeggi, Empa, Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing, Feuerwer
Abstract Number: 454 Working Group: Synthesis of Functional Materials using Flames, Plasmas and other Aerosol Methods
Abstract In the recent decades, nanoparticles have been widely synthesized using thermal plasma technology [1]. Flexibility re-garding the precursors phase (gas, liquid, solid) and ability to generate plasmas with a controlled chemistry, allow the production of almost all materials including those with high melting point [2] at high production rates.
Among thermal plasmas, Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) processing is a powerful technique to produce all kinds of nanopowders , from oxides to metals and hard ceramics such as TiCN or SiC [3].
Longer residence time of the precursor and absence of contamination generated by electrodes make ICP a technique of choice to produce nanoparticles with well-defined properties.
At Empa, a RF-ICP, based on a Tekna PL-35 torch using a 13.56Mhz generator (Pmax=35 kW), has been setup to systematically investigate the plasma synthesis and in-flight functionalization of nanoparticles [4]. The reactor is equipped with many viewports enabling observations and characterizations of the overall process including plasma properties, gas phase characterization and plasma/particles interactions (FTIR and OES-spectroscopy, High-speed imaging).
Based on case studies such as in-situ carburization of silicon nanoparticles or in-flight coating of TiCN nanoparticles with surfactants, we will present the state of the art of plasma characterization, synthesis and functionalization of nanoparticles at Empa.
[1] Shigeta M. and Murphy A.B. 2010 Thermal Plasmas for nanofabrication J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 44 174025
[2] Ostrikov K., Cvelbar U. and Murphy A.B. 2011 Plasma nanoscience: setting directions, tackling grand challenges J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 44 174001
[3] Leparoux M., Schreuders C. and Fauchais P. 2008 Improved Plasma Synthesis of Si-nanopowders by Quenching Adv . Eng. Mat. 10 12 1147-50
[4] Leparoux M., Leconte Y., Wirth A. and Buehler Th.2010 In Situ Treatment of Thermal RF Plasma Processed Nanopowders to Control their Agglomeration and Dispersability Plasm. Chem. Plasm. Proc. 30 779-793