Synthesis of nanoparticles in high temperature ceramic microreactors: Design, fabrication and testing

Abstract

Microreactors as a novel concept in chemical technology enable the introduction of new reaction procedures in chemistry, pharmaceutical industry, and molecular biology. These miniaturized reaction systems offer many exceptional technical advantages for a large number of applications. One major application is in the bulk synthesis of nanoparticles. Despite the availability of a plethora of nanoparticle synthesis processes, there exist many difficulties in controlling the shape, size, and purity of nanoparticles in large quantities in a safe and cost-effective manner. These difficulties have been the principal 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. These studies have also shown that a microchannel 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 a high temperature, ceramic microreactor by investigating the use of reactive gas streams in arrays of microchannel reactors. These innovations offer the potential to overcome the barriers associated with synthesis of ceramic nanoparticles in large quantities. © 2009 American Ceramic Society.