Advisor: L. Walker, S. Anna and
N. Alvarez.
There is a need to develop techniques to control
the processing of nanometer scale particles to
generate new materials. While batch processes have
been used in the past, the disadvantages of these
batch reactions demand that new avenues be explored.
Using microfluidic devices to carry out the same
chemistry continuously is one way to circumvent
some of these disadvantages. We are interested
in using the polyol process, a well documented
batch reaction, in the synthesis of gold particles
in a continuous single phase microfluidic channel
network. The goal is to allow for tunability
in size, but maintain monodispersity. The
goal of the student would be to probe parameters
such as: residence time, reactor diameter, dimensionless
numbers, stabilizer concentration, and reactor
temperatures to map out the phase space of gold
particle synthesis in a single phase microfluidic
device. Experimental techniques learned as
part of this project will include dynamic light
scattering, small angle x-ray scattering, and spectroscopy
to characterize the gold particle solutions and
determine size and distribution. Design and
fabrication of microfluidic devices and a microreactor
system will be key parts of the project. |
