Our Technology

 

The following techniques are used to manufacture the various nanostructured materials listed on our products page:

• Catalytic Chemical Vapor Deposition: carbon nanotubes (CNTs) such as tangled CNTs, short dispersible CNTs, aligned CNTs, functionalized CNTs. A wide variety of inner diameters, outer diameters, lengths, functionalizations and purities are possible.
• Coatings/Modifications: a layer of hydrophilic PVP or hydrophobic oleic acid can improve dispersability and compatibility, depending on application.
• Chemical Precipitation/Coprecipitation: single-metal oxides, multi-metal oxides and rare earth oxides.
  Hydrothermal Method: oxides with an average particle size of  20-80 nm and larger, up to 300-500 nm.
• Explosion: Diamond nanopowders, average particle size of 3-15 nm.
• Electro-Explosion: metal and alloys, average particle size of 60-100 nm.
• Gas Jetting: brittle powders, from tens to hundreds of nanometers in average particle size.
• Laser Induced Chemical Vapor Deposition: Si, SiC and oxides, with average particle sizes around 10 nm, 50 nm and 100 nm, free from aggregation.
• Low Temperature Physical Method: brittle powders with no contamination, micron and sub-micron average particle size.Mechanical Milling/Alloying: amorphous materials in powder form.
• Mechanical Milling: a flexible technique that can make brittle powders (average particle size down to 20 nm), can break down aggregated nanopowders and tangled carbon nanotubes, and can agglomerate nanostructured metals, alloys, oxides and carbides.
• Melt Solidification: amorphous materials in bulk form.
• Microemulsions: oxides and compounds with precise control of small (5-10 nm) average particle size.
• Sol-Gel: narrow particle size range and aggregated nanopowders.
• Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition: metals (average particle size of 25 nm, 60 nm, 80 nm and 120 nm) and silicon, carbides, borides and nitrides (average particle size of 5 nm, 10 nm, 30 nm, 60 nm, 200 nm, 300 nm and 500 nm), purity of 99% or 99.9%.
• Plasma Physical Vapor Deposition: vapor temperature less than 3,000 K, resulting in an average particle size of 90-150nm. Purities of 3N, 4N, 5N or higher. Nanoparticles can be solid elements, metal oxides, carbides, nitrides and more, with a special focus on nanoparticles with superior electronic properties.
•  Wet Chemistry: metallic nanopowders (W, Mo, Ta, etc.), oxides and carbides. High-pressure wet chemistry also possible for specific phases.

These advanced processing technologies enable us to achieve controllable products parameters such as components, composition, particle size, size distribution, morphology, surface area and purity. Some of our techniques can perform surface coating treatments, customizable to our customers' requests. Most of these techniques can yield ton-sized quantities or higher on a monthly basis, with reproducible inter-batch quality. For larger orders, we can test more detailed product information than what is usually provided.

 

The utilization of the various aforementioned advanced processing techniques makes it possible for us to provide our customers with a wide variety of low-cost, high-quality, and large-quantity nanostructured materials such as:

• Carbon Nanotubes: single-walled, multi-walled, functionalized, dispersible carbon nanotubes.
• Carbon Nanofibers: carbon nanofibers and graphitized carbon nanofibers.
• Elemental Nanoparticles: crystalline metals, amorphous metals, graphite, diamond, silicon, boron and other solids.
• Advanced Ceramic Nanoparticles: carbides, nitrides and borides.
• Oxide Nanoparticles: single-metal, multi-metal, rare earths, hydroxides, carbonates, sulfates, minerals and clays.
• Composite Nanoparticles: alloyed, doped, shelled and cored metals and oxides.
• Surface-modifications: on oxides and their composites.
• High Surface Area Materials: graphite mates, sieves and holed beads.
• Amorphous Metallic Alloys: bulk, ribbons and powders.

If you need more information on our processing technologies and products, please contact us.