Intrinsiq Materials’ DC plasma processing platform for the production of inorganic nanostructures is the result of more than ten years of investment in equipment and knowledge by QinetiQ and the UK government and subsequent improvements by Intrinsiq.
The process combines broad materials and processing flexibility with scalability for industrial uses. Our process handles a wide range of materials including metals, oxides, mixed oxides, carbides, nitrides, alloys, and non-stoichiometric materials.
No other production process known to us can fabricate inorganic nanostructures with a comparable combination of control over processing conditions, output materials quality, and scalability.
The attributes of our process include:
- Ability to freeze in metastable and non-stoichiometric states
- Multiple feedstock injection for mixed and exotic compounds
- Optional in-flight coating techniques
- Variable gas compositions and a controllable atmosphere
- Extremely low impurities pick-up and even impurities reduction
- Variable collection media
In addition, due to our defense industry heritage the design specifications are geared to the safe production of the highly reactive nano-aluminum. The process involves vaporizing feedstock material such as silicon or copper in a very high temperature plasma stream and then controlling a rapid cooling process to yield a fine nanoparticle powder. The processing variables such as gas flow and feeding mechanism can be controlled to manufacture materials with particular specifications. The resulting nanoparticles are highly pure and have well-controlled mean particle size.
The process is especially well suited to transition metals such as silicon, copper, molybdenum, tantalum, but can also make oxides, carbides, nitrides, and non-stoichiometric particles and compounds. The table below illustrates the broad range of materials we have experience processing:
Broad Range of Materials Processed
| Metals | Oxides | Carbon and Nitrides | Mixed Oxides | Non-stoichiometric materials Alloys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum Copper Silver Nickel Cobalt Titanium Stainless Steel | Aluminum Oxide Zinc Oxide Copper Oxide Cerium Oxide Tin Oxide Cuprous Oxide Titanium Dioxide Nickel Oxide Zirconium Oxide | Carbides and Nitrides Tungsten Carbide Aluminum Nitride Boron Nitride | Mixed Oxides ZnO / CuO ZnO / TiO2 | Stainless Steel Aluminum Nickel Aluminum Boron |
Our nanoscale transition metals show promise for a range of applications including conductive inks for printed electronics (e.g. copper and silver), thin films of nano-particles for solar cells (silicon), multi-layer capacitors (tantalum and nickel), and catalysts (tri-part compounds).
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