Aerosol-based high-temperature synthesis of materials

Abstract

A material synthesis method may comprise: adding at least one liquid precursor solution to an atomizer device; generating by the atomizer device an aerosol comprising liquid droplets; transporting the aerosol to a reactive zone for evaporating one or more solvents from the aerosol; and collecting particles synthesized from at least evaporating the aerosol.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A material synthesis method, comprising:
 adding at least one liquid precursor solution to an atomizer device;   generating by the atomizer device an aerosol comprising liquid droplets;   transporting the aerosol to a reactive zone for evaporating one or more solvents from the aerosol; and   collecting particles synthesized from at least evaporating the aerosol.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the at least one liquid precursor solution comprises a metal salt dissolved or diluted in a solvent;   the metal salt comprises at least one of alkaline, transition, or lanthanide metals;   the solvent comprises at least one of water, metal alkoxide, or one or more hydrocarbon liquids; and   the median size of the synthesized particles increases with the molar concentration of the liquid precursor solution.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one liquid precursor solution has a dynamic viscosity of less than 0.2 Pa·s and a molar concentration of 0.001-2 mol/L. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 for a sub-micron mode of the atomizer device, at least 99% of the liquid droplets by number have a diameter of less than 1 μm and an arithmetic mean diameter between 0.1 and 1 μm, and the particles are monodisperse with an average diameter between 5-100 nm; and   for a dual mode of the atomizer device, the liquid droplets are sub-micron sized in diameter or 1-100 μm in diameter, and the particles are polydisperse with diameters between 5 nm-10 μm.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the atomizer device comprises a microspray atomizer;   generating the aerosol comprises introducing an atomizing gas flow into the microspray atomizer and generating the aerosol in the microspray atomizer;   the atomizing gas comprises at least one of an oxidizer gas, an inert gas, or a fuel gas; and   the atomizing gas flow has a pressure of 1-100 bar.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein, before transporting the aerosol to the reactive zone, the method further comprises:
 transporting the aerosol to a preheating section; and   preheating the aerosol at a temperature between 50° C. and 500° C. for evaporating at least a portion of the one or more solvents from the aerosol for 0.1-10 seconds.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein:
 energy for the preheating is provided by at least one of electrical heating, combustion heating, or heat exchange with a recirculated exhaust gas.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the reactive zone comprises at least one of a flame, plasma, furnace, laser heating, or electric heating;   the reactive zone is at a temperature of 500-10000° C. and a pressure of 500 mbar-10 bar; and   transporting the aerosol to the reactive zone for evaporating one or more solvents from the aerosol comprises transporting the aerosol to the reactive zone for evaporating one or more solvents from the aerosol for 0.1-10 seconds.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 transporting the aerosol to the reactive zone comprises transporting the aerosol to the reactive zone without preheating; and   the synthesized particles are hollow-structured.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 collecting the synthesized particles comprises collecting the synthesized particles from an exhaust stream of the reactive zone by membrane filtering, electrostatic collection, bag filtering, or cold trap.   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 ,
 the synthesized particles comprise a metal oxide, fluoride, sulphide, oxysulphide, silicate, nitrate or nitride; and   the synthesized particles comprise non-aggregated particles.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the synthesized particles comprise particles selected from a group consisting of: monodisperse Li(Ni 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 )O 2  particles with an average diameter between 5-100 nm, hollow-structured Li(Ni 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 )O 2  particles, and polydisperse Li(Ni 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 )O 2  particles with diameters between 5 nm-10 μm. 
     
     
         13 . A material synthesis system, comprising:
 an atomizer device for receiving at least one liquid precursor solution to generate an aerosol comprising liquid droplets;   an atomizer channel; and   a reactor, wherein:
 the atomizer channel is connected to the atomizer device at a first end and to the reactor at a second end; 
 the atomizer channel is at least for transporting the aerosol to the reactor; and 
 the reactor comprises a reactive zone for evaporating one or more solvents from the aerosol to obtain particles synthesized from at least evaporating the aerosol. 
   
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 13 , wherein:
 the at least one liquid precursor solution comprises a metal salt dissolved or diluted in a solvent;   the metal salt comprises at least one of alkaline, transition, or lanthanide metals;   the solvent comprises at least one of water, metal alkoxide, or one or more hydrocarbon liquids; and   the median size of the synthesized particles increases with the molar concentration of the liquid precursor solution.   
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 13 , wherein:
 for a sub-micron mode of the atomizer device, at least 99% of the liquid droplets by number have a diameter of less than 1 μm and an arithmetic mean diameter between 0.1 and 1 μm, and the particles are monodisperse with an average diameter between 5-100 nm; and   for a dual mode of the atomizer device, the liquid droplets are sub-micron sized in diameter or 1-100 μm in diameter, and the particles are polydisperse with diameters between 5 nm-10 μm.   
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 13 , wherein:
 the atomizer channel comprises a preheating section for preheating the aerosol at a temperature between 50° C. and 500° C. for 0.1-10 seconds.   
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 13 , wherein:
 the reactive zone comprises at least one of a flame, plasma, furnace, laser heating, or electric heating;   the reactive zone is at a temperature of 500-10000° C. and a pressure of 500 mbar-10 bar; and   the reactor comprises the reactive zone for evaporating the one or more solvents from the aerosol for 0.1-10 seconds to obtain synthesized particles.   
     
     
         18 . A material synthesis method, comprising:
 adding a first precursor solution to an atomizer device to generate a first aerosol comprising first liquid droplets;   transporting the first aerosol to a reactive zone for evaporating one or more first solvents from the first aerosol to obtain first synthesized particles of a first size distribution;   adding a second precursor solution to the atomizer device to generate a second aerosol comprising second liquid droplets; and   transporting the second aerosol to the reactive zone for evaporating one or more second solvents from the second aerosol to obtain second synthesized particles of a second size distribution.   
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein:
 the first and second precursor solutions comprise gasoline and water respectively.   
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein:
 the first and second size distributions are selected from monodisperse and polydisperse distributions;   the monodisperse distribution is associated with an average diameter between 5-100 nm, and is obtained from corresponding liquid droplets that at least 99% by number of which have a diameter of less than 1 μm or an arithmetic mean diameter between 0.1 and 1 μm; and   the polydisperse distribution is associated with diameters between 5 nm-10 μm, and is obtained from corresponding liquid droplets that are sub-micron in diameter or 1-100 μm in diameter.