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Roeland Dijkema, MScBrussels, 3rd of April 2019
Sub 20 nm generation of soot particles using the VSP-G1 nanoparticle generator
CONFIDENTIAL
AgendaTopic
Company1
Introduction2
Technology3
Particle deposition4
Results5
Summary6
Philosophy
We make machines that produce nanostructured materials. Our philosophy is that these machines should be simple to operate and based on a scalable principle.
VSPARTICLE
Accessories G-1 NMP-1G-1
~ 40 cm
Introduction
VSPARTICLE timeline Introduction
2014
Start of VSPARTICLE,
development of the G1
2017
3 Launching
customers
Full management
team covering all
angles of business
2018
International expansion to
research oriented
markets in the Americas,
Europe and Asia
1988
Invention of spark
ablation by Andreas
Schmidt-Ott
#REENGINEERResearch 1-300 Hz ~ milligramsIndustry 10.000-25.000 Hz ~ 100s milligrams
TechnologySpark ablation
Technology
• Ablation/evaporation andcondensation
• Electric discharge
≈ 104 K, ≈10-5 s
• Rapid quench
≈ 107 K s-1
• ‘Mild’ conditions
• Versatility• Metals
• Carbon
• Oxides
• Alloys[Schwyn 1988, J. Aerosol Sci., 19 (5), p.639.]
How particle growth works in the system
The process takes place under atmospheric conditions
Particle Production inside G1
Technology
TechnologyParticle formation in sparks
[Feng et al. 2016, J. Phys. Chem. C., 120 (1), p. 621.][Tabrizi et al. 2009, J. Nanopart. Res., 11 (2), p. 315]
• Smoluchowski:d 𝑁
d 𝑡= −
1
2𝛽𝑁2
𝑑𝑝 ∝ 𝑁−1
3
• Controlled through voltage, current and flow
𝑁0 ∝ሶ𝑚
𝑄∝
𝑈 𝐼
𝑄
𝑡 =𝑉
𝑄
𝑑𝑝 ∝𝑉 ሶ𝑚
𝑄2
13
Possibilities with G1Materials
Technology
CONFIDENTIAL
VSP-G1 designFlexible flow configurations
ResultsVSP-G1 designFlexible flow configurations
VSP-G1 designAu, Ar, Crossflow
Results
0
1
2
3
4
1 10 100
dN
+ /d
log
dp
[cm
-3]
×10
7
Particle size [nm]
Throughflowcrossflowhollow inlethollow outlet
Ag, 1.7kV, 4 mA, 4 slm
- Tuneable size distribution
- Crossflow highestconcentration
- Throughflow smallest meandiameter
Material: Copper
Carrier Gas: Argon
Flowrate: 1 L/min
Voltage: 1.0 kV
Current: 5.0 mA
Stability of 5 nm particles
StDev: <2%
Measured with DMA (DifferentialMobility Analyzer) + Electrometer & FD/C
Size-selected stabilityOutput VSP-G1 example
Results
Size-selected stability measurementStability measurement
Results
µ, σ
Warm up Measurement
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0E+0
1E+5
2E+5
3E+5
4E+5
5E+5
6E+5
0 500 1000 1500
Gap
Vol
tage
[kV]
Part
icle
cou
nt [c
m-3
]
Time [s]
Particle Count Voltage setpoint Gap Voltage
σ=3.4%
σ=1.5%
σ=1.7%σ=1.3%
VSP-G1 emission experimentsCarbon output
Results
0,00E+00
1,00E+05
2,00E+05
3,00E+05
4,00E+05
5,00E+05
6,00E+05
7,00E+05
8,00E+05
9,00E+05
0,01 0,02 0,03 0,04 0,05 0,06 0,07 0,08 0,09 0,1
CO
NC
EN
TR
AT
ION
(#
/CM
3)
PARTICLE SIZE (UM)
1.3 kV, 8 mA, 20 SLM 1.3 kV, 8 mA, 15 SLM 1.3 kV, 8 mA, 10 SLM 1.3 kV, 8 mA, 5 SLM 1.3 kV, 8 mA, 2 SLM
Carbon output
ResultsVSP-G1 emission experiments
CONFIDENTIAL
Who is already using itSome of our customers
• R&D scale generator
• Commercially available
• Outputs an aerosol of nanoparticles
• Specifications:
• Particle size between few atoms to 300 nm
• Particle generation rate approx. 1 ~ 10 mg/h
• Particle concentration 108 ~ 1011 cm-3
VSP-G1 Nanoparticle Generator
Thank you!
The VSPARTICLE team
Carbon output(Dekati Elpi+)
Spark ablation Setup Technology
- Self-charging in plasma
- Electrostatic precipitation
- Electrostatic force towards HV Electrode
- Small particles overpresented
Self-chargingNo neutralizer in setup
Results
Tabrizi et al. 2015
Flow configurationInfluence on Size distribution
Results
0
1
2
3
4
1 10 100
dN
+ /d
log
dp
[cm
-3]
×10
7
Particle size [nm]
Throughflowcrossflowhollow inlethollow outlet
Ag, 1.7kV, 4 mA, 4 slm
- Tuneable size distribution
- Crossflow highest
concentration
- Throughflow smallest mean
diameter
FlowrateInfluence on size distribution
Results
- At highest flowrate only
primary particles
- Dilution at higher flowrate
- Current, Voltage Influence
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
1 10
Raw
Counts
(#/c
c)
Dp (nm)
Size distributions (Throughflow, Au, 1kV, 5mA)
1.5 SLPM
3.3 SLPM
6.6 SLPM
10 SLPM
15 SLPM
