US 2008/0187657 A1Published application

Methods and apparatus for depositing nanoparticles on a substrate

AssigneeThe Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

InventorsM. Cengiz Altan, Levent Aktas

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Abstract

The present invention is a process for uniformly depositing nanomaterials having particles smaller than 1 μm (i.e., nanoparticles) onto a surface of a base material (substrate or surface). The process is used to deposit any solid (nanoparticle) of any shape such as nanofibers, nanotubes, nanoclays (e.g., platelet shaped), nano-spheres, or irregularly shaped granules. The base material upon which the nano-particles are deposited can be made of any material. The method substantially prevents the deposition on the base material of larger particles (contaminants or clusters of the nanoparticles) which are often mixed with the nanomaterials. The amount of deposition and the range of particle sizes to be deposited can also be controlled by this method. Maintaining deposition uniformity, controlling the amount of deposition, and the elimination of larger particles enhances the utility of nanomaterials, and by subsequent processing, enables the development of multifunctional composite materials (or other coated substrates) to be used in commercial applications. In the present invention nanoparticles are applied to other base materials by substantially eliminating deposition of larger clusters or aggregates of nano-sized materials or other large impurities of other materials upon or in the base materials by positioning the base material within an upper portion of a deposition chamber.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A method for depositing nanoparticles upon a deposition substrate, comprising:

providing a container assembly comprising:
a deposition chamber having an outer wall, an inner wall, an inner space, and upper end and a lower end, and the inner space having an upper level and a lower level positioned below the upper level;
a nanomaterial feeding container for containing a nanomaterial;
and
a nanomaterial mixing and ejection device for mixing the nanomaterial from the nanomaterial feeding container and ejecting the mixed nanomaterial through an ejection orifice into the inner space of the deposition chamber at a level below the upper level of the inner space;
positioning a deposition substrate within the upper level of the inner space of the deposition chamber, the deposition substrate having an exposed surface, and wherein the exposed surface of the deposition substrate is positioned in the upper level of the inner space above the ejection orifice;
depositing the nanomaterial into the nanomaterial feeding container;
and
feeding the nanomaterial into the nanomaterial mixing and ejection device wherein the nanomaterial is mixed and wherein after mixing, the nanomaterial is ejected into the inner space of the deposition chamber as particles comprising nanoparticles and nanomaterial clusters forming a suspension of nanoparticles in the upper level of the inner space wherein nanoparticles from the suspension of nanoparticles become deposited on the exposed surface of the deposition substrate such that nanoparticles are the primary particles deposited on the exposed surface of the deposition substrate and nanomaterial clusters primarily settle in the lower level of the inner space.

6 more elements

An apparatus for deposition of nanoparticles upon a deposition substrate, comprising:

a container assembly comprising:
a deposition chamber having an outer wall, an inner wall, an inner space, and upper end and a lower end, and the inner space having an upper level and a lower level positioned below the upper level;
a nanomaterial feeding container for containing a nanomaterial;
and
a nanomaterial mixing and ejection device for mixing the nanomaterial from the nanomaterial feeding container and ejecting the mixed nanomaterial through an ejection orifice into the inner space of the deposition chamber at a level below the upper level of the inner space;
a deposition station for positioning a deposition substrate within the upper level of the inner space of the deposition chamber, the deposition substrate having an exposed surface, and wherein the exposed surface of the deposition substrate is positioned in the upper level of the inner space above the ejection orifice;
and
wherein when the nanomaterial is deposited within the nanomaterial feeding container, the nanomaterial can be fed into the nanomaterial mixing and ejection device wherein the nanomaterial can be mixed and wherein after mixing, the nanomaterial can be ejected into the inner space of the deposition chamber as particles comprising nanoparticles and nanomaterial clusters forming a suspension of nanoparticles in the upper level of the inner space wherein nanoparticles from the suspension of nanoparticles become deposited on the exposed surface of the deposition substrate such that nanoparticles are the primary particles deposited on the exposed surface of the deposition substrate and nanomaterial clusters primarily settle in the lower level of the inner space.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.