Aerosol synthesis of nanostructured, ultrafine fullerene particles

Jorma Joutsensaari

Aerosol synthesis methods for the production of nanostractured fullerene particles have been developed. The nanostractured, ultrafine fullerene particles were produced by vapor condensation and aerosol droplet drying and crystallization methods in tubular laminar flow reactors. The formation mechanisms were studied by measuring particle-size distributions is the gas phase. High-resolution scanning and transmission electron microscopy methods were used to observe particle morphology and ciystal structure, and to study the crystallization mechanisms of the fullerene particles. The production conditions of fullerene particles during synthesis, i.e. gas temperature and flow profiles in the reactor, were evaluated using computational fluid dynamics calculations. In order to study the role of fullerene vapor during crystallization, fullerene particle evaporation dynamics in the laminar flow was modeled using aerosol particle evaporation theory. In addition, a high-performance liquid chromatography method was utilized to study whether it was possible to separate different fullerenes during aerosol processes.