High purity fine metal powders and methods to produce such powder

A process for producing fine metal powder comprising:

• providing a feed precursor with purity of at least 99.9% by metal basis;
• transporting the feed precursor to a plasma reactor;
• processing the feed precursor at a temperature greater than 2000° C. in the plasma reactor in a gas comprising oxygen;
• and
• transforming the feed precursor to fine metal powder with purity of at least 99.9% by metal basis.

A process for producing fine metal powder comprising:

• providing a feed composition comprising a metal-containing organic substance with purity of at least 99.9% by metal basis;
• atomizing the feed composition;
• and
• heating the atomized feed composition thereby forming the fine metal powder with purity of at least 99.9% by metal basis.

A process for producing fine metal powder comprising:

• providing a metal-containing feed composition with purity of at least 99.9% by metal basis;
• adding a synthesis aid to the feed composition;
• wherein the synthesis aid is selected from the group consisting of emulsifying agent, surfactant and dispersant;
• and
• processing the feed composition and synthesis aid thereby forming the fine metal powder with purity of at least 99.9% by metal basis.