VSPARTICLE’s Post

Transcript

At the nanoscale, structural changes can drastically alter a material's physical and chemical properties. That's why nanoporous thin films are a game changer. These nanoporous layers have an enormous surface area relative to their volume, making them essential for a wide range of high impact applications. But producing high purity, consistent nanopores layers has long been a challenge. For decades, researchers have relied on traditional methods techniques like wet. Chemical synthesis, social processing, and slot die coating. Even though there are still widely used, these methods come with significant limitations. Traditional methods require multiple processing steps, making it difficult to precisely control thickness and particle size. Chemical treatments can introduce impurities, damage delicate materials and lead to inconsistent nanopore structures that limit performance and scalability. We take a different approach. We as Particle has developed an innovative technique based on spark ablation technology that enables us to generate high purity nanoparticles with size below 20 nanometers, the smallest stable particles that can be produced under room temperature conditions. Using our printing technology, we deposit nanoparticles through a technique inspired by inertial impaction, where a controlled aerosol stream accelerates the particles towards the substrate. This ensures uniform deposition while preserving the nanoparticles high purity and porosity. Because of their small size, these nanoparticles exhibit funerals forces, naturally adhering to any surface. Without the need for adhesives, researchers can now create high purity nanoporous layers. On any substrate to match their specific research needs. But what does this look like in practice? Let's take a look at an example. Here we printed a zinc oxide nanopores layer on a silicon substrate. We can control the thickness of the nanoporous layers by adjusting the number of passes during deposition. The SEM images show how the thickness of the layer increases with the number of passes from 2:00 to 10:00 passes, demonstrating a linear trend. In this case, doubling the number of passes approximately double s the thickness, allowing precise calibration to achieve the desired film properties. This level of control is crucial because it enables researchers to customize nanoporous layers for specific applications like catalysis, gas sensing, or energy storage. While this experiment used zinc as the source material, the same approach can be applied to any conductive or properly doped semiconductor material that can be processed into electrodes. Let's turn material development challenges into breakthroughs. Get in touch to discuss how we can support your needs.