Dynamic Process Model for Nanoparticle Precipitation in Microemulsion Systems

Abstract

The controlled technical-scale production of nanoparticles is a very important aspect in nanotechnology. The synthesis of nanoparticles by microemulsion precipitation is a laboratory-scale technique which has to be scaled up to technical use. For a better understanding of this complex process, a numerically efficient process model was derived which is applicable to CFD studies, process control and the analysis of the scale-up behavior. The model contains microemulsion specific nucleation kinetics allowing for the discrete character of the system on a molecular scale, and growth kinetics adopted from bulk phase approaches. The major output of this process model is the computationally efficient and reliable determination of the mean particle diameter as a function of time. A comparison with experimentally obtained data from barium sulfate precipitation showed a qualitatively good agreement.

Nanoparticle precipitation in microemulsions: Population balance model and identification of bivariate droplet exchange kernel

“…In previous experimental [3][4][5] and theoretical works [6][7][8][9] the authors identified control parameters for a tailored nanoparticle design in microemulsion systems. In literature successful applications of this technology can be found for lab-scale production of metals [10], bimetals [11,12], metal oxides [13,14], borides [15], carbonates [16], halides [17], pharmaceuticals [18], semiconductors [19,20] and sulfates [21,22].…”