Monodisperse model to predict the growth of inorganic nanostructured particles in supercritical fluids through a coalescence and aggregation mechanism

Arnaud Erriguible (1) , Frederic Marias (2) , François Cansell (3) , Cyril Aymonier (3)

1 TREFLE - Transferts, écoulements, fluides, énergétique
2 LATEP - Laboratoire de Génie Thermique Énergétique et Procédés (EA1932)
3 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux

Today material processing in supercritical fluids represents one of the main applications of the supercritical fluid technology within the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology research activities. A wide range of materials can be produced from organic to inorganic NPs with a fine control of their characteristics playing with the process operating parameters. However, there is a crucial need of numerical tools to develop the material processing technology in supercritical fluids at a larger scale.

This is particularly the case for the growth of inorganic NPs with processes based on a chemical transformation in supercritical fluids. This paper is focused on the development and validation of a monodisperse model that predicts the growth of inorganic nanostructured particles through a two steps mechanism: coalescence and aggregation. This model can predict the evolution of particle size as a function of the process operating parameters. The numerical tool is validated with the growth of nanostructured copper metal particles in a supercritical CO₂/EtOH mixture.

Mots clés: Model mathematics; Monodispersion; Aggregation; Mechanism; Coalescence; Inorganic particles; Supercritical fluids

Domaines: Matériaux

Arnaud Erriguible, Frederic Marias, François Cansell, Cyril Aymonier. Monodisperse model to predict the growth of inorganic nanostructured particles in supercritical fluids through a coalescence and aggregation mechanism. Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 2009, 48 (1), pp.79-84. ⟨10.1016/j.supflu.2008.09.014⟩. ⟨hal-00358128⟩