Nanoparticle Generator

Inductive heating is a highly efficient and contactless method that relies on induced currents to increase the temperature of target metallic materials. By controlling the power that goes into the inductive heating one can increase the temperature of the target materials at levels close to their melting point, and produce metal vapours. Upon fast quenching, these vapour condense to form metallic atomic clusters and nanoparticles which can subsequently be used in advanced materials for different applications. Controlling the heating power and the quenching of the electrode by adjusting the flow rate of the carrier gas, we can produce nanoparticles of different size depending on the material of the target electrode.

Sensors

Gas sensors employing metal oxide nanoparticles (grains) in the form of thin films (i.e., the sensing material) rely on changes in the conductivity of the material caused by the adsorption of a number of target gas molecules on their surface, which is proportional to the concentration of the gas in the overlaying gas. The sensitivity of the sensing materials depends on their composition and porosity, which in turn can be tuned by the size of their nanoparticle building blocks. Exploiting the high versatility of the inductive heating generator we have developed, we can produce a range of nanoparticle-based metal oxide materials for highly sensitive and selective gas sensing applications.