EFFECT OF PROCESS PARAMETERS ON THE SYNTHESIS OF TI AND TIO, NANOPARTICLES PRODUCED BY ELECTROMAGNETICLEVITATIONALGAS CONDENSATION

The nanoparticles of Ti and TiO2 have attracted extensive research interest because of their diverse applications in, for instance, catalysis, energy conversion, pigment and cosmetic manufacturing and biomedical engineering. In this work, a one-step bulk synthesis method of electromagnetic levitational gas condensation (ELGC) was utilized for the synthesis of monodispersed and crystalline Ti and TiO2 nanoparticles. In this process, the Ti vapours ascending from the high temperature levitated droplet were condensed by an argon gas stream under atmospheric pressure. The TiO2nanoparticles were produced by simultaneous injection of argon and oxygen into the reactor. Effectsof flow rate of the condensing and oxidizing gases on the size and size distribution of thenanoparticles were investigated. The particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and image analysis. The process parameters for the synthesis of the crystalline Ti and TiO2 nanoparticles were determined.

Keywords:

Nanoparticles , Electromagnetic levitation , Gas condensation , Ti , TiO2