Development of a Dynamic Gas Condensation Technique for Commercial Production of Nanometer Metal Powders

Scientific innovations are commercially worthless until they are matched by corresponding manufacturing innovations. This dilemma characterizes the current status of nanometer metal powder technology. On one hand, years of scientific research have unambiguously demonstrated the utility of nanoscale metal materials for a myriad of high technology applications; on the other hand, current manufacturing processes are ineffective at producing viable quantities of high-quality material at reasonable cost. New Mexico Nano-Energetics proposes that dynamic gas condensation processes constitute the missing enabling technology for large-scale commercial production of nanometer metal powders. Adaptation and refinement of gas condensation techniques should allow achievement of tunable and precise control of powder particle size and size distribution in the nanometer regime by controlling nucleation and growth of atomic clusters that form in metal vapor. This project will determine the feasibility of employing dynamic gas condensation to commercially produce large quantities of high purity nanometer metal powders at reasonable cost. In addition, feasibility determinations for powder passivation techniques and powder collection schemes for continuous or semi-continuous modes of operation are focal areas. Data obtained from laboratory-scale reactor experiments will be used to guide the design of a commercially viable production apparatus.