Jain K., Wu C., Atre S., Kimura S., Jovanovic G., Sprenkle V., Canfield N., Narayanan V., Roy S.
Oregon Nanoscience & Microtechnologies Institute, US
Keywords: gas phase, high temperature, microreactor, silicon nitride
Nanoscale ceramic powders offer attractive prospects as building blocks for various high performance applications due to their excellent mechanical, thermal, dielectric and corrosion properties. Despite the availability of a plethora of nanoparticle synthesis processes the difficulties in controlling the shape, size, and obtaining highly pure and stable nanoparticles in large quantities in a safe and cost-effective manner, have been the factors adversely limiting the applications of ceramic nanoparticles. Recent experiments have shown that to study the process of growth and formation of nanoparticles, a reactor having much smaller dimensions, namely a microreactor is more appropriate. Prior work has shown that the shape, size, and yield of nanoparticles are strongly influenced by the mean residence time required to produce the nanoparticles. A micro-reactor provides control over the mean residence time and hence over the nanoparticle size and shape. This paper deals with the design, fabrication, and testing issues related to the use of reactive gas streams in microchannel reactors to overcome the barriers associated with synthesis of ceramic nanoparticles in large quantities.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Technical Proceedings of the 2007 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show, Volume 3
Published: May 20, 2007
Pages: 391 - 394
Industry sector: Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: Micro & Bio Fluidics, Lab-on-Chip
ISBN: 1-4200-6184-4