Combustion Synthesis of Nanoparticles

The proposed R&D plan focuses on the development of an innovative liquid combustion process for the production of unagglomerated nanopowders of uniform size, crystallinity and composition in a microgravity environment. The project is designed primarily to exploit reduced buoyancy in a microgravity environment to accelerate the development and commercialization of technology for production of advanced materials for use in electronics and electro-optics. Candidate materials are doped and undoped zinc oxide (ZnO) (for displays), barium-strontium-titanate (for advanced dielectrics), and platinum metal (for catalysis). A related goal of this effort is to use the knowledge about microgravity-grown material behavior to improve ground-based nanopowder production capabilities. The powders will be collected during experiments in a drop-tower and characterized for microstructure, stoichiometry and physical properties as a function of process variables.