High-rate formation of nano-scale alumina particles

In this paper the authors report a new approach to the problem of high rate formation of nanophase powders. In experiments the authors were able to make aluminium oxide particles in the size range from 5 to 140 nm (peaking sharply at 34 nm) at a rate of 3 g/min. The starting material was a mixture of aluminum-tri-sec-butoxide and sec-butanol. An aerosol was made from this solution and subsequently burned in a special torch, described below. The resulting particles were spherical and no necked regions were observable between them. In a practical application, our technique allows a large production rate while still approaching the ideal of nano-scale mono-scale monodispersed particles. The work was extended to the formation of zirconium oxide particles with quite similar results in the size distribution