Multifunctional, Hybrid Materials Design via Spray-Drying: Much more than Just Drying

Abstract

Spray-drying is a popular and well-known “drying tool” for engineers. This perspective highlights that, beyond this application, spray-drying is a very interesting and powerful tool for materials chemists to enable the design of multifunctional and hybrid materials. Upon spray-drying, the confined space of a liquid droplet is narrowed down, and its ingredients are forced together upon “falling dry.” As detailed in this article, this enables the following material formation strategies either individually or even in combination: nanoparticles and/or molecules can be assembled; precipitation reactions as well as chemical syntheses can be performed; and templated materials can be designed. Beyond this, fragile moieties can be processed, or “precursor materials” be prepared. Post-treatment of spray-dried objects eventually enables the next level in the design of complex materials. Using spray-drying to design (particulate) materials comes with many advantages—but also with many challenges—all of which are outlined here. It is believed that multifunctional, hybrid materials, made via spray-drying, enable very unique property combinations that are particularly highly promising in myriad applications—of which catalysis, diagnostics, purification, storage, and information are highlighted.