Apparatus and method for electrostatically depositing aerosol particles
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsCalvin Thomas Coffey, Curtis Robert Fekety, Andrey V Filippov, Clinton Damon Osterhout, Martin Andrew Sala, Carlton Maurice Truesdale
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Abstract
An apparatus useful for electrostatic deposition (ESD) of aerosol particles and methods of depositing the aerosol particles onto a substrate are disclosed. The ESD apparatus and the method of the present invention are useful for electrostatically depositing nanoparticles produced by gas-phase synthesis onto a substrate where the velocity of the flow of aerosol can be controlled.
Claims18
An apparatus for electrostatically depositing aerosol particles comprising:
- a particle generator selected from an induction particle generator, a flame spray pyrolysis generator, an ultrasonic particle generator and combinations thereof connected to an inlet passage adapted to carry a flow of aerosol in the direction of a center axis of the inlet passage;
- a diverging section connected to the inlet passage, the diverging section comprising an outlet passage and a particle deposition passage, wherein the particle deposition passage forms a turn relative to the center axis of the inlet passage;
- wherein the particle deposition passage comprises a charging zone comprising a charger and is adapted to receive a flow of aerosol from the inlet passage, an electrostatic deposition zone adapted to receive a flow of aerosol from the charging zone and an outlet passage positioned at the terminal end of the particle deposition passage;
- and
- the electrostatic deposition zone comprises a pair of deposition electrodes spaced apart and facing one another.
A method for electrostatically depositing aerosol particles on a substrate, the method comprising:
- generating an initial flow of aerosol comprising nanoparticles;
- passing the initial flow of aerosol across a diverging section that divides the initial flow of aerosol into a particle deposition stream and an outlet stream;
- wherein at least the particles in the particle deposition stream flow at an angle and at a reduced velocity relative to the initial flow of aerosol;
- passing the particle deposition stream through a charging zone comprising a charger;
- applying direct current to the charger to charge the aerosol particles passing there between, forming charged aerosol particles;
- passing the charged aerosol particles between a pair of deposition electrodes, at least one having a substrate attached thereto;
- and
- applying direct current to the deposition electrodes to produce an electric field there between that deposits the charged aerosol particles comprising nanoparticles onto the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.