Process and apparatus for producing inorganic fullerene-like nanoparticles
First Claim
1. A process for producing inorganic fullerene-like (IF) metal chalcogenide nanoparticles, the process comprising:
- (a) preparing a metal precursor vapor, selected from the group consisting of metal halide vapor, metal carbonyl vapor, organo-metallic compound vapor and metal oxyhalide vapor, in a separate evaporation chamber;
(b) feeding the metal precursor vapor from said separate evaporation chamber into a reaction chamber to flow towards a reaction zone in said reaction chamber along a vertical path to interact with at least one chalcogen material in gas phase flowing towards said reaction zone in a vertical path in a direction opposite to that of the metal precursor vapor flow, and controlling temperature conditions in said reaction zone such as to enable the formation of inorganic fullerene-like (IF) metal chalcogenide nanoparticle product.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a process for obtaining fullerene-like metal chalcogenide nanoparticles, comprising feeding a metal precursor (INi) selected from metal halide, metal carbonyl, organo-metallic compound and metal oxyhalide vapor into a reaction chamber (12) towards a reaction zone to interact with a flow of at least one chalcogen material (IN2) in gas phase, the temperature conditions in said reaction zone being such to enable the formation of the fullerene-like metal chalcogenide nanoparticles product. The present invention further provides novel IF metal chalcogenides nanoparticles with spherical shape and optionally having a very small or no hollow core and also exhibiting excellent tribological behavior. The present invention further provides an apparatus for preparing various IF nanostructures.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A process for producing inorganic fullerene-like (IF) metal chalcogenide nanoparticles, the process comprising:
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(a) preparing a metal precursor vapor, selected from the group consisting of metal halide vapor, metal carbonyl vapor, organo-metallic compound vapor and metal oxyhalide vapor, in a separate evaporation chamber; (b) feeding the metal precursor vapor from said separate evaporation chamber into a reaction chamber to flow towards a reaction zone in said reaction chamber along a vertical path to interact with at least one chalcogen material in gas phase flowing towards said reaction zone in a vertical path in a direction opposite to that of the metal precursor vapor flow, and controlling temperature conditions in said reaction zone such as to enable the formation of inorganic fullerene-like (IF) metal chalcogenide nanoparticle product. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 25)
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- 13. TiS2 nanoparticles having fullerene-like structure and a diameter size of between 10-300 nm.
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16. An apparatus for preparing IF nanostructures, the apparatus comprising:
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a reaction chamber having a reaction zone, inlets for inputting reacting gases and defining a vertical path thereof towards the reaction zone, and an outlet; a separate evaporation chamber for separately preparing a precursor vapor being one of the reacting gases to be input to the reaction chamber; and a control unit configured and operable for controlling the precursor vapor flow from the evaporation chamber into and through the reaction chamber. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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- 20. Inorganic fullerene-like (IF) metal chalcogenide nanoparticles having a plurality of molecular layers and characterized in that the number of said molecular layers exceeds 40.
- 23. A product comprising a plurality of inorganic fullerene-like (IF) metal chalcogenide nanoparticles, a substantial portion of which having a number of molecular layers exceeding 40.
Specification