CRYSTALLISATION OF SMALL AND MONODISPERSED NANOPARTICLES VIA MICROFLUIDICS
In order to accomplish a more sustainable and water-based synthesis of functional inorganic materials, we have recently developed a field of research concerning the microfluidic synthesis of inorganic nanocrystalline materials, in collaborations with Proff. M. Maggini and T. Carofiglio. In particular, we focussed on the room-temperature synthesis of very small and monodispersed pure and transition metal and lanthanide-doped zinc sulphide nanoparticles, without the use of any ligand and/or surfactant.[36-37]
Indeed, thanks to the unique conditions that are achieved in a microfluidic reactor, namely i) the highly efficient and fast mixing and ii) the flowing and dynamic nature of the system, a high control on the product’s size and size distribution can be achieved.
In Fig. 5 a schematic representation of our microfluidic set-up is reported.
Fig. 5 Schematic representation of the microfluidic set-up used for the synthesis of pure and doped ZnS.[37]
REFERENCES
F. Tajoli, N. Dengo, A. Faresin, M. Mognato, P. Dolcet, G. Lucchini, J.-D. Grunwaldt, D. Badocco, M. Maggini, A. Speghini, T. Carofiglio, S. Gross, ACS Appl. Mater. Interf. submitted
N. Dengo, A. Faresin, T. Carofiglio, M. Maggini, L. Wu, J. P. Hofmann, E. J. M. Hensen, P. Dolcet, S. Gross, Chem. Comm. submitted