In-Situ Characterization of Metal Nanopowders Manufactured by the Wire Electrical Explosion Process

In order to understand the size distributions of metal nanopowders inside manufacturing equipment operated at elevated pressures, a scanning mobility particle sizer is used to carry out in-situ measurements of metal nanopowders manufactured by the wire electrical explosion process. A pressure reducer and rotating disk diluter are used for conditioning metal nanopowder samples appropriate for real-time aerosol instruments operated at atmospheric pressure. Based on measurement data collected downstream of the evaporation chamber, the production of metal nanopowders shows good stability and uniformity for a total number concentration of approximately 5 x 107 particles/cm(3), and a unimodal size distribution with a mean diameter of approximately 170 nm. Using an aerosol electrometer and two sets of electrostatic classifiers, positively charged particles slightly outnumber negatively charged particles. The performance of the rotating disk diluter is confirmed by comparing the size distributions of metal nanopowders diluted with five different dilution factors, ranging from 235 to 2500. SEM and TEM image analysis indicates that most metal nanopowders manufactured by this process consist of aggregated particles, and their size distributions obtained from SEM images are similar to those measured by the SMPS. The changes in particle size distribution at each stage of the manufacturing process, including the evaporation chamber, trap buffer, cyclone, and mesh filter, are also monitored using the above in-situmonitoring system. The resulting in-situ measurement data can be used for design modifications of equipment, as well as for investigating the sources of nanopowder release to the workplace environment.