Reactive plasma synthesis of nanocrystalline ceramic oxides

Reactive plasma synthesis is an attractive route to synthesize nanocrystalline materials. A 40 kW DC non-transferred arc plasma reactor has been designed and developed in our laboratory for synthesis of nanocrystalline materials. The main components of the plasma reactor include a 40 kW DC plasma generator or plasma torch, water-cooled reactor segment, product collection facility, DC power supply, cooling-water system and exhaust gas vent. The system has been used to synthesize nano-crystalline oxides of aluminium, titanium and zirconium. Aluminium metal powder was used as the starting material to synthesize alumina. The hydrides of Ti and Zr were used as the precursor for synthesis of nanocrystalline titania and zirconia respectively. The precursor powders were injected into the thermal plasma jet and were allowed to react with oxygen injected downstream the jet. The precursor powder particles were oxidized 'in-flight' to form nano-sized powder of the respective metal, which deposited on the walls of the reactor and collector assembly. Various analytical tools were used to characterized the products.