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US 5,618,475 AGranted
Evaporator apparatus and method for making nanoparticles
AssigneeNorthwestern University
InventorsD. Lynn Johnson, Vinayak P. Dravid
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AssigneeNorthwestern University
InventorsD. Lynn Johnson, Vinayak P. Dravid
Estimating the term…
Nanoparticles of a material less than about 100 nm in diameter are made by evaporating the material in an evaporation chamber residing in an entrainment chamber having a gaseous atmosphere therein. The evaporator is disposed in but isolated from the entrainment chamber, except for a gaseous jet discharge opening. A carrier gas is introduced to the evaporation chamber to carry vapor of the material in the evaporation chamber through the discharge opening into the entrainment chamber as a gaseous jet. The gaseous jet entrains the gaseous atmosphere for quenching the vapor to form nanoparticles. Solid material is supplied at a feedrate to a supply opening of the evaporation chamber, melted at an end region remote from the supply opening, and evaporated at the end region at an evaporation rate equal to the feed rate of the solid material. First and second metals having different vapor pressures can be supplied to respective first and second evaporation chambers and their vapors collected in a common vapor collection chamber having the discharge opening therein. The carrier gas is introduced to the vapor collection chamber to carry the metal vapors together through the discharge opening as a gaseous jet into the entrainment chamber where nanoparticles comprising the two metals are formed.
Apparatus for forming particles of a material, comprising:
Method of making nanoparticles of a material, comprising evaporating the material in an evaporation chamber communicated by a discharge opening to a chamber having a gaseous atmosphere therein, introducing carrier gas into said evaporation chamber to carry vapor of said material in said evaporation chamber through said discharge opening into said chamber as a gaseous jet, and entraining said gaseous atmosphere in said gaseous jet for quenching said vapor to form nanoparticles.
Method of making nanoparticles, comprising evaporating a first material in a first evaporation chamber, evaporating a second material in a second evaporation chamber, communicating the first and second evaporation chambers to a common third vapor collection chamber communicated by a discharge opening to a chamber having a gaseous atmosphere therein, introducing carrier gas into said vapor collection chamber in a manner to carry vapors of said first material and second material together from said vapor collection chamber through said discharge opening into said chamber as a gaseous jet, and entraining said gaseous atmosphere in said gaseous jet for quenching said vapors to form nanoparticles.
Evaporator for forming vapor of a material, comprising a tubular evaporator housing having an evaporation chamber therein and a vapor discharge opening, means for heating the material in said evaporation chamber to generate vapor of said material therein proximate said discharge opening, and means for supplying carrier gas to said evaporation chamber in a manner to carry said vapor through said discharge opening as a gaseous jet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.