Submerged-plasma process for the production of nanostructured materials
Described herein is a submerged-plasma process for the production of amorphous and nanocrystalline nanostructured materials, depending on processing conditions, from precursors that can be in the liquid or injected into the plasma or both.
1 . A method for producing a nanostructured material comprising:
(a) producing a zone of plasma;
(b) submerging at least a portion of the jet of plasma in a quenching liquid;
(c) contacting the submerged jet of plasma with a precursor material to form a nanostructured material;
(d) injecting a precursor material into the plasma jet upstream of the quenching liquid; and
(e) using the fabricated materials as synthesized or post annealing to modify the phase or microstructure or morphology.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the zone of plasma in step (a) is produced by a high-enthalpy arc-plasma setup or tungsten-arc plasma.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the zone of plasma in step (a) is produced by an inductively-coupled plasma setup.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the zone of high enthalpy in step (a) is produced by a flame that is electromagnetically or plasma assisted.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the quenching liquid comprises the precursor material.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the quenching liquid comprises high purity water or other solvent.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the precursor material remains unsubmerged.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor material comprises a hydrocarbon, including methane.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor material comprises a solid in the submerged liquid.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor material comprises a liquid immediately prior to contacting plasma or contacting the plasma.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor material comprises a gas immediately prior to contacting plasma or contacting the plasma.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanostructured material comprises a particle.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanostructured material comprises a film.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanostructured material comprises graphene nanoflakes or 2-D nanoflakes comprising h-BN or MoS 2 .
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanostructured material is amorphous.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising (f) annealing the amorphous nanostructured material to form an at least partially nanocrystalline material.
17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanostructured material is produced at a rate of greater than or on the order of about 1 pound/hour (˜0.45 kg/h).