Plasma synthesis of nanopowders

1. An apparatus for producing nanopowders comprising:

a) a plasma torch to generate a plasma flow and to produce a vapour from a reactant material supplied to the plasma torch; and

b) a quenching chamber mounted to the plasma torch downstream therefrom and in fluid communication with said plasma torch to receive the vapour from the plasma torch and condense said vapour into the nanopowders, said quenching chamber comprising:

i) an upstream hot quench section supplied with a first quench gas preheated to a vapour condensation temperature lower than a melting point of the reactant material, the first quench gas preheated to the vapour condensation temperature being injected into the upstream hot quench section to generate in the quenching chamber a renewable controlled-temperature gaseous condensation front, wherein the vapour condensation temperature of the first, pre-heated quench gas controls at least one physical property of the nanopowders from particle morphology, particle uniformity, particle size and particle size distribution;

ii) at least one downstream cold quench section supplied with a second quench gas at a temperature lower than the vapour condensation temperature of the first, preheated quench gas to control a temperature profile along the quenching chamber to improve at least one physical property of the nanopowders from particle morphology, particle size and particle size distribution.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the quenching chamber comprises a slanted position relative to the plasma torch.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a collection chamber to collect the nanopowder.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gaseous condensation front exerts a constricting effect on the plasma flow.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the constricting effect is proportional to the quench gas flow rate.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the upstream hot quench section of the quenching chamber comprises a wall section comprising a plurality of openings for injecting the first quench gas in the upstream hot quench section of the quenching chamber.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the wall section is a porous wall section.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the wall section is a slotted wall section.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the wall section is a perforated wall section.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said vapour is at a reaction temperature capable of reacting with said plasma flow, with said first and second quench gases, or with both said plasma flow and said first and second quench gases.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the reactant material is selected from the group consisting of metals, alloys, organometallic compounds, chlorides, bromides, fluorides, iodides, nitrites, nitrates, oxalates, carbonates, oxides and composites.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an inlet for feeding a second reactant in the plasma flow.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the inlet is configured to inject the second reactant into the plasma torch.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the inlet is configured to inject the second reactant into the quenching zone.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the second reactant is the first or second quench gas.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the second reactant is an oxidizing gas.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the second reactant is a carburizing agent.

18. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the second reactant is a nitrating agent.

19. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising a reactor, said reactor being in fluid communication with the plasma torch and the quenching chamber, and said reactor being disposed between the plasma torch and the quenching chamber.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said preheated quench gas and said second quench gas are configured to create the temperature profile along a centerline of the quenching chamber.

21. A process for synthesizing a nanopowder comprising:

a) feeding a reactant material into a plasma reactor in which is generated a plasma flow having a temperature sufficiently high to vaporize said material;

b) transporting said plasma flow into a downstream quenching zone comprising an upstream hot quench section and a downstream cold quench section to condense the vaporised reactant material into the nanopowder;

c) injecting:

i) a first quench gas preheated to a vapour condensation temperature lower than a melting point of the reactant material into the plasma flow in said upstream hot quench section, the first quench gas preheated to the vapour condensation temperature and injected into the upstream hot quench section generating in the quenching zone a renewable controlled temperature gaseous condensation front, wherein the vapour condensation temperature of the first, pre-heated quench gas controls at least one physical property of the nanopowder from particle morphology, particle uniformity, particle size and particle size distribution; and

ii) a second quench gas at a temperature lower than the vapour condensation temperature of the first, preheated quench gas into the plasma flow in said downstream cold quench section to control a temperature profile along the quenching zone to improve at least one physical property of the nanopowder from particle morphology, particle size and particle size distribution; and

d) forming the nanopowder at the interface between the renewable condensation front and the plasma flow.

22. The process of claim 21 , wherein the quenching zone comprises a slanted position relative to the plasma reactor.

23. The process of claim 21 further comprising collecting the nanopowder in a collection zone.

24. The process of claim 21 , wherein the gaseous condensation front exerts a constricting effect on the plasma flow.

25. The process of claim 24 , wherein the constricting effect is proportional to the quench gas flow rate.

26. The process of claim 21 , comprising injecting the preheated quench gas in the quenching upstream hot quench section of the zone through a plurality of openings in a wall section of said upstream hot quench section of the quenching zone.

27. The process of claim 26 , wherein the plurality of openings define a porous wall section.

28. The process of claim 26 , wherein the plurality of openings define a slotted wall section.

29. The process of claim 26 , wherein the plurality of openings define a perforated wall section.

30. The process of any one of claim 26 , 27 , 28 or 29 , wherein the quenching zone is a quenching chamber.

31. The process of claim 21 , wherein said vapour is at a reaction temperature capable of reacting with said plasma flow, with said first and second quench gases, or with both said plasma flow and said first and second quench gases.

32. The process of claim 21 , wherein the reactant material is selected from the group consisting of metals, alloys, organometallic compounds, chlorides, bromides, fluorides, iodides, nitrites, nitrates, oxalates, carbonates, oxides and composites.

33. The process of claim 21 , further comprising:

a) feeding a second reactant in the plasma flow; and

b) reacting the second reactant with the reactant material to produce the nanopowder of chemical composition different from the reactant material.

34. The process of claim 33 , comprising injecting the second reactant into the plasma torch.

35. The process of claim 33 , comprising injecting the second reactant into the quenching zone.

36. The process of claim 33 , wherein the second reactant is the first or second quench gas.

37. The process of claim 33 , wherein the second reactant is an oxidizing gas.

38. The process of claim 33 , wherein the second reactant is a carburizing agent.

39. The process of claim 33 , wherein the second reactant is a nitrating agent.

40. The process of claim 21 , wherein the temperature profile is created along a centerline of the quenching zone.