Partic. vol. 2 no. 5 pp. 207-214 (October 2004)
doi: 10.1016/S1672-2515(07)60060-8

Thermodynamic and particle-dynamic studies on synthesis of silica nanoparticles using microwave-induced plasma CVD

Ruoyu Hong^a,b,*, Jianmin Ding^c, Guoliang Zheng^b

rhong@suda.edu.cn

Abstract

Recent studies on preparation of silica nanoparticles using plasma chemical vapor deposition (PCVD) are briefly reviewed. A microwave (MW) PCVD apparatus was set up to synthesize silica nanoparticles by the oxidation of silicon tetrachloride. Computations based on the minimization of Gibbs free energy were conducted to find the equilibrium compositions, the optimal reaction temperature, the suitable mole ratio of oxygen to silicon tetrachloride, and the best inlet positions of silicon tetrachloride. The mean particle diameter and specific surface area were obtained from particle dynamic simulation. Experimental investigation verified the results obtained from the thermodynamic and particle-dynamic computations, and showed that the maximum production rate of silica was more than 1 kg·h⁻¹ with the full MW input power.

Keywords

microwave; plasma; chemical vapor deposition; nanoparticle; silica