An apparatus and a method for continuous solvothermal synthesis of nanoparticles, are provided. The apparatus includes an inlet section, a reactor section, a flexible quenching unit, and an outlet section. The inlet section separately receives reactants including the solvent and a precursor solution that are allowed to flow into the reactor section. The reactor section includes multiple spiral turns such that each of the spiral turns includes a helical channel followed by a counter-helical channel for enabling mixing of the reactants to cause solvothermal reactions between them. The counter-helical channel changes the direction of flow of reactants upon flow of said reactants from the helical channel to the counter-helical channel. The flexible quenching section enclosing a portion of the reactor section quenches a slurry formed as a result of the solvothermal reactions, wherein the slurry includes the nanoparticles of targeted characteristics. The outlet section facilitates withdrawal of the slurry.

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for performing mechanosynthesis, including those that involve bulk chemical preparation of tips, multiple tips for supplying feedstock, and use of sequential tips such as in a thermodynamic cascade; such features may simplify starting requirements, increase versatility, and/or reduce complexity in the mechanosynthesis equipment and/or process.

Systems and methods for mechanosynthesis are disclosed, including those that avoid the need for a bootstrap process, avoid the need to build tips via mechanosynthesis, avoid the need for charging tips with feedstock during a build sequence, avoid the need to dispose of reaction byproducts, which reduce the design complexity of new tips, and/or which reduce or avoid the need for multiple positional means and/or tip switching.

In the system and method disclosed, an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip is used to selectively desorb hydrogen atoms from the Si(100)-2X1:H surface by injecting electrons at a negative sample bias voltage. A new lithography method is disclosed that allows the STM to operate under imaging conditions and simultaneously desorb H atoms as required. A high frequency signal is added to the negative sample bias voltage to deliver the required energy for hydrogen removal. The resulted current at this frequency and its harmonics are filtered to minimize their effect on the operation of the STM's feedback loop. This approach offers a significant potential for controlled and precise removal of hydrogen atoms from a hydrogen-terminated silicon surface and thus may be used for the fabrication of practical silicon-based atomic-scale devices.

A device used for making a carbon fiber film includes a chamber, a support base, and a power supply. The support base is used for suspending a carbon nanotube film in the chamber and transporting a negative voltage to the carbon nanotube film. The power supply is located outside of the chamber and used for applying the negative voltage.

Systems and methods of synthesizing nanoparticles on substrates using rapid, high temperature thermal shock. A method involves depositing micro-sized particles or salt precursors on a substrate, and applying a rapid, high temperature thermal pulse or shock to the micro-sized particles or the salt precursors and the substrate to cause the micro-sized particles or the salt precursors to become nanoparticles on the substrate. A system may include a rotatable member that receives a roll of a substrate sheet having micro-sized particles or salt precursors; a motor that rotates the rotatable member so as to unroll consecutive portions of the substrate sheet from the roll; and a thermal energy source that applies a short, high temperature thermal shock to consecutive portions of the substrate sheet that are unrolled from the roll by rotating the first rotatable member. Some systems and methods produce nanoparticles on existing substrate. The nanoparticles may be metallic, ceramic, inorganic, semiconductor, or compound nanoparticles. The substrate may be a carbon-based substrate, a conducting substrate, or a non-conducting substrate. The high temperature thermal shock process may be enabled by electrical Joule heating, microwave heating, thermal radiative heating, plasma heating, or laser heating.

Disclosed is an apparatus for manufacturing a carbon nanotube fiber.

A method of transferring a single metal atom from a first location to a second location on the surface of a metal oxide is disclosed. The method includes obtaining a material having a first metal atom deposited on a first oxygen atom vacancy of the metal oxide and transferring the first metal atom of the metal on the first oxygen atom vacancy to a second location on the metal oxide by applying a voltage to the first metal atom. The second location can be a second metal atom on a second oxygen atom vacancy of the metal oxide, where the first and second metal atoms form a first metal atom second metal atom species, or a metal atom of the metal oxide, where the first metal atom and the metal atom of the metal oxide forms a first metal atom metal atom of the metal oxide species.

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for performing mechanosynthesis, including those that involve bulk chemical preparation of tips, multiple tips for supplying feedstock, and use of sequential tips such as in a thermodynamic cascade; such features may simplify starting requirements, increase versatility, and/or reduce complexity in the mechanosynthesis equipment and/or process.

Methods and systems for high-speed production of nanoparticles with very high product yields are described. Systems utilize concentric micro-scale capillaries arranged to define nanoparticle formation regions that lie along predetermined length(s) of the capillaries. Flow through the formation regions can be laminar during a formation protocol. The system can include on-line analytical tools for real time characterization of products or intermediates. Systems include an additive manufacturing-type deposition at the terminus of the formation section. The deposition area includes a print head and a print bed and provides for random or patterned deposition of nanoparticles. The print head and/or the print bed can be capable of motion in one or more degrees of freedom relative to one another.