CATALYST PARTICLE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THEREOF

Abstract

A method for producing catalyst particles is disclosed and includes forming a solution including a solvent and a material including catalyst material, wherein the material including catalyst material is dissolved or emulsified in the solvent; aerosolizing the formed solution to produce droplets including the material including catalyst material; and treating the droplets to produce catalyst particles or intermediate catalyst particles from the material including catalyst material comprised in the droplets. A method for producing nanomaterials, an apparatus, a catalyst particle and a solution droplet for the production of a catalyst particle are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for producing catalyst particles, characterized in that the method comprises: forming a solution comprising a solvent and a material including catalyst material, wherein the material including catalyst material is dissolved or emulsified in the solvent, aerosolizing the formed solution to produce droplets comprising the material including catalyst material, and treating the droplets to produce catalyst particles or intermediate catalyst particles from the material including catalyst material comprised in the droplets.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein intermediate catalyst particles are produced, the method further comprising: treating the intermediate catalyst particles to produce catalyst particles.

3. The method of any one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the formed solution has a viscosity between 0.0001 Pascal Seconds and 10 Pascal Seconds, preferably between 0.0001 Pascal Seconds and 1 Pascal Seconds.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the solution comprises 10-99.9 weight-percent of solvent, and preferably 90-99.9 weight-percent of solvent.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the solution comprises 0.01-50 weight-percent of material including catalyst material, and preferably 0.1-4 weight-percent of material including catalyst material.

6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the method further comprises adding a promoter in order to produce catalyst particles comprising at least part of the promoter.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the promoter is added to the solution comprising a solvent and a material including catalyst material.

8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein aerosolizing the solution to produce the droplets is carried out by spray nozzle aerosolization, air assisted nebulization, spinning disk atomization, pressurized liquid atomization, electrospraying, vibrating orifice atomization, sonication, ink jet printing, spray coating, spinning disk coating, and/or electrospray ionization.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein treating the droplets to produce catalyst particles is carried out by heating, evaporation, thermal decomposition, sonication, irradiation and/or chemical reaction.

10. The method of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the material including catalyst material is selected from a group consisting of organometallic compounds and metal organic compounds.

11. Use of the method of any one of claims 1 to 10 in catalytic synthesis of nanomaterial.

12. A method of for producing nanomaterial, characterized in that the method comprises: forming a solution comprising a solvent and a material including catalyst material, wherein the material including catalyst material is dissolved or emulsified in the solvent, aerosolizing the formed solution to produce droplets comprising the material including catalyst material, treating the droplets to produce catalyst particles from the material including catalyst material comprised in the droplets, introducing a nanomaterial source, and synthesizing nanomaterial from the nanomaterial source and at least one of the catalyst particles.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises depositing the formed nanomaterial onto a substrate.

14. The method of any one of claims 12 and 13, wherein the nanomaterial source is a carbon nanomaterial source.

15. An apparatus for producing catalyst particles, characterized in that the apparatus comprises: means for aerosolizing a solution comprising a solvent and a material including catalyst material, wherein the material including catalyst material is dissolved or dispersed in the solvent, to produce droplets comprising the material including catalyst material, and means for treating the droplets to produce catalyst particles or intermediate catalyst particles from the material including catalyst material comprised in the droplets.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for forming a solution comprising a solvent and a material including catalyst material, wherein the material including catalyst material is dissolved or dispersed in the solvent.

17. The apparatus of any one of claims 15 and 16, wherein the apparatus comprises means for adding a promoter in order to produce catalyst particles comprising at least part of the promoter.

18. The apparatus of any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the means for aerosolizing the solution to produce the droplets comprise means for spray nozzle aerosolization, air assisted nebulization, spinning disk atomization, pressurized liquid atomization, electrospraying, vibrating orifice atomization, sonication, ink jet printing, spray coating, spinning disk coating, and/or electrospray ionization.

19. The apparatus of any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the means for treating the droplets to produce catalyst particles comprise means for heating, evaporation, thermal decomposition, irradiation, sonication and/or chemical reaction.

20. A solution droplet for the production of a catalyst particle comprising a solvent, a material containing a catalyst material and a promoter.

21. The solution droplet of claim 20, wherein the catalyst material is selected from a group consisting of iron, nickel, cobalt, platinum, copper, silver, gold, and any combinations thereof, and any compounds which include at least one of these materials.

22. A catalyst particle, characterized in that the catalyst particle comprises catalyst material and at least one promoter.

23. A catalyst particle of claim 22, wherein the promoter is selected from a group consisting of sulfur, selenium, tellurium, gallium, germanium, phosphorous, lead, bismuth, oxygen, hydrogen, ammonia, water, alcohols, thiols, ethers, thioethers, esters, thioesters, amines, ketones, thioketones, aldehydes, thioaldehydes, and carbon dioxide.

24. The catalyst particle of claim 23 wherein the catalyst material, the material containing catalyst material and the promoter are in a solid, liquid or molten state.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0055] FIG. 1 shows a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0056] FIG. 2 shows a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0057] FIGS. 3a and 3b are SEM and TEM images of nanomaterials according to an embodiment.

[0058] FIG. 4 is a diameter distribution of 60 SWCNTs.

[0059] FIG. 5 shows diameter distributions of CNTs for different sulfur concentrations according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0060] Reference will now be made to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

[0061] FIG. 1 shows a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment shown on FIG. 1, the method begins with forming a solution comprising a solvent and a material including catalyst material, indicated as step 101. A solvent and a catalyst source (material comprising catalyst material) can be added to the mixer 102 to form the solution. The catalyst source is dissolved, emulsified or otherwise dispersed in the solvent before the method continues. The solvent may be, for example, water, toluene, ethanol or any other suitable material which allows the catalyst source to become dispersed; and the catalyst source can be, for example, a compound such as ferrocene. The solution may have a viscosity between 0.0001 Pa S and 10 Pa S, preferably between 0.0001 Pa S and 1 Pa S. Such viscosity can allow for efficient aerosolization of the solution. The solution can comprise 10-99.9 weight-percent of solvent, and preferably 90-99.9 weight-percent of solvent. It can also have 0.001-90 weight-percent of catalyst source, and preferably 0.01-50 weight-percent of the catalyst source and more preferably 0.1 to 5 weight-percent of the catalyst source. The above range of ratios can provide for efficient catalyst material production at different conditions.

[0062] The solution is then aerosolized to produce droplets 103 comprising the catalyst source. This can be done, for example, by spray nozzle aerosolization, air assisted nebulization or atomization. The droplets 103 comprising the catalyst source may be of different size depending on the conditions of the aerosolization. They may also have a distribution of sizes. Preferably, the standard deviation of the droplet size distribution is below 5 and more preferably below 3 and more preferably below 2 and more preferably below 1.5 percent. In an embodiment, the aerosol size distribution is monodisperse.

[0063] In an embodiment of the invention, in the absence of droplet or particles agglomeration or coagulation, each droplet of solution results in a catalyst particle. Reactor conditions such as temperature, solution, carbon source and carrier gas feed rates, solvent, material containing catalyst material, promoter weight fractions in solution, level of turbulence, reactor configuration or geometry, classification or pre-classification of droplet or catalyst particles, loading of droplets or catalyst particles and pressure can be varied to minimize collisions in the gas phase leading to agglomeration and coagulation. Other means of controlling collisions are possible according to the invention.

[0064] In an embodiment, the droplets 103 are treated to produce catalyst particles 104. This can be done e.g. by heating, evaporation, thermal decomposition, sonication, irradiation and/or chemical reaction. During the treatment the solvent may evaporate from the droplets 103. The catalyst particles 104 are produced from the catalyst source, i.e. catalyst material is released from the material comprising catalyst material and catalyst particles are formed.

[0065] In an alternative embodiment, the catalyst material is not fully released from the material containing catalyst material and intermediate catalyst particles 106 are formed. In this case the solvent is removed but the catalyst material may not be released from the material comprising catalyst material. The intermediate particles 106 can be further treated to release the catalyst material from the material containing catalyst material. This way, catalyst particles 104 can also be formed.

[0066] The method can also include an optional step of adding a promoter 105, shown by dashed arrows. The promoter 105 may be introduced at any moment during the production of catalyst particles, i.e. added to the solution in the mixer 102, introduced during aerosolization or during treatment. The promoter may increase or improve the growth rate of nanomaterials when the produced catalyst particle is used for producing nanomaterials, or aid in controlling one or more property of the nanomaterial to be produced. An example of the promoter is thiophene.

[0067] In one embodiment, the promoter material is not released from the promoter precursor and an intermediate promoter particle is formed (not shown on FIG. 1).

[0068] Production rates, quality control and yield of nanomaterials are a function of the efficiency of material conversion and uniformity and composition of catalyst particles. Since certain properties of nanomaterials are dependent on the properties of their catalyst particles during synthesis, the nanomaterials produced by this method can have controllable properties. For example, in the case of HARMs such as CNT and CNBs, diameter of the nanomaterial, is directly related to the catalyst diameter.

[0069] Therefore, the size and other properties of the catalyst particles 103 produced by the above method can be controlled by selecting different aerosolization and treatment techniques and conditions. Since the catalyst particles are not produced from pre-made catalyst material but are produced from a catalyst source dissolved, emulsified or otherwise dispersed in the solvent, their properties do not depend on the properties of the pre-made material, and conditions can be chosen such that they are not likely to agglomerate before they are produced in the gas phase.

[0070] FIG. 2 shows a method for synthesizing nanomaterials according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method, similarly to the method shown on FIG. 1, can start with forming a solution 201 comprising a solvent and a catalyst source which is dissolved, emulsified or otherwise distributed therein. Then the solution 201 is aerosolized to produce droplets 202 comprising catalyst source, then the droplets are treated and catalyst particles are produced. After this, nanomaterial 204 is synthesized. The nanomaterial may be a carbon nanomaterial, such as a carbon nanotube or a carbon nanobud (shown on FIG. 2).

[0071] For the synthesis of nanomaterial 204, a nanomaterial source 205 needs to be introduced, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 2. The nanomaterial source 205 may be introduced at any point during this method, and in the example shown on FIG. 2 it is introduced during synthesis of nanomaterial 204. In the case of carbon nanomaterials, nanomaterial sources 205 can include carbon and carbon containing compounds including carbon monoxide, carbohydrates and hydrocarbons. A solvent can also act as a nanomaterial source, for instance, once the solvent is substantially evaporated from the droplets.

[0072] A promoter may also be added at any moment during the method shown on FIG. 2. The promoter can aid in synthesis of nanomaterial 204, accelerate it or provide control over certain properties of the nanomaterial 204.

[0073] According to the invention, catalyst material, material containing catalyst material or promoters may be dispersed by solvation, emulsification, through the use of surfactants or by any other means to disperse them in the solvent.

[0074] In an embodiment of the invention, before the nanomaterial is nucleated or catalytically synthesized from the catalyst particle, the solvent can be removed, e.g. by evaporation or chemical reaction, so that one or more of the catalyst materials, material containing catalyst materials and, if present, promoters are no longer in solution, emulsified or otherwise dispersed in the solvent. Consequently, the catalyst can be in a solid, liquid or molten state. According to the invention, the particle can be further treated, e.g. by adding energy or through chemical reaction to release the catalyst material and/or the promoter from a promoter precursor so that they become activated.

[0075] According to one embodiment of the invention, it is possible to store the liquid, solid or molten catalyst particles in an intermediate state (i.e. in a state essentially without solvent but before they are activated for catalysis) for later dispersion in an aerosol reactor or deposition on a substrate for surface supported growth of a nanomaterial.

[0076] According to one embodiment of the invention, the liquid, solid or molten final catalyst particles or intermediate catalyst particles are stored on a substrate or in a secondary solution where they be dispersed, for instance, by means of a surfactant to be later aerosolized into a nanomaterial synthesis reactor or coated on a substrate.

[0077] In an embodiment of the invention, the catalyst particles or intermediate catalyst particles are immediately used while in the carrier gas to produce nanomaterials or are immediately further treated while in the carrier gas to produce catalyst particles which are immediately used while in the carrier gas to produce nanomaterials and, thus, are not collected and stored on a substrate or in solution for later use.

[0078] The synthesized nanomaterial 204 may be subsequently deposited onto a substrate (not shown).

EXAMPLE

[0079] In one embodiment of the current invention, a catalyst precursor material (ferrocene) and a promoter (thiophene) were dissolved into a solvent (toluene) to form a liquid feedstock (the solution including solvent and catalyst source), which was then atomized by a nitrogen (the carrier gas) jet flow to produce aerosol droplets. In this example, toluene was also a nanomaterial (in this case carbon) source. This aerosol was continuously carried into the reactor through a stainless steel tube by high flow rate (8 lpm) of a second promoter (hydrogen (H2)). Other gaseous reactants (carbon sources ethylene (C2H4) and carbon dioxide (CO2)) were introduced and mixed with the gas flow as desired. Gaseous reactant flows were measured and controlled by mass flow controllers. Other nanomaterial sources, solvents, promoters, carrier gases, reactor materials and configurations, and flow rates are possible according to the embodiments of the invention.

[0080] Catalyst particles (in this case, iron, though other catalyst particles are possible according to the invention) were obtained by conditioning the droplets (in this example, by thermal decomposition of ferrocene), followed by growth of iron atom clusters in the furnace. Other means of producing catalyst particles and other catalyst materials and precursors are possible according to the invention. The reactor was a 5 cm diameter quartz tube heated by a split tube furnace, which has a 60 cm long hot zone. Other reactor materials, means of introducing energy and geometries are possible according to the invention.

[0081] CNT (carbon nanotube) synthesis was then performed at various temperatures including 1100 C. The synthesis was performed at atmospheric pressure in laminar flow conditions inside the reactor, though other pressures and flow conditions (e.g. turbulent or transitional flow) are possible according to the invention. Any other pressure is possible according to the invention. CNTs were collected at the reactor outlet by an 11 cm diameter nitrocellulose filter (Millipore, 0.45 m diameter pores). Other collection means are possible according to the invention including direct thermophoretic, inertial, gravitational and electrophoretic deposition. Residence time in the reactor was about 2 seconds. Other residence times are possible according to the invention to allow sufficient time for growth but limit agglomeration or exhaustion of carbon sources.

[0082] The aerosol number size distribution was measured with electrostatic differential mobility analyzer (TSI model 3071) and condensation particle counter (TSI model 3775). In order to measure optical absorption spectrum and transmittance (measured at 550 nm) of CNT thin films, CNTs were transferred from nitrocellulose filter to 1 mm thick quartz substrate (Finnish glass), and the spectrum was recorded by UV-vis-NIR absorption spectrometer (Perkin-Elmer Lambda 950). For TEM observation, CNTs were deposited directly on copper TEM grids (Agar Scientific lacey carbon mesh) by putting them on the collection filter at the outlet of the reactor. High resolution TEM images were recorded with double aberration-corrected JEOL JEM-2200FS. SEM images were recorded by a Zeiss Sigma VP microscope. Raman spectra were recorded with HORIBA Jobin Yvon LabRAM HR 800 spectrometer and 633 nm HeNe laser. Sheet resistance was measured with a 4-point linear probe (Jandel 4 point-probe, Jandel Engineering Ltd).

[0083] Aerosol droplets comprising catalyst source produced by the atomizer had a geometric mean diameter of 72.4 nm, and a logarithmic standard deviation of 1.7. In the preferred operation of this embodiment, aerosol particle precursor droplets are formed by an atomizer, though other means of generating an aerosol from a feed stock which are known in the art may be employed. The atomizer allowed generation of aerosol of well-defined size distribution and concentration, which can be tuned by changing the atomizing nitrogen flow.

[0084] In an exemplary embodiment, temperature used for synthesis was set to 1100 C. At that temperature, films peeled off easily from the filter, and were successfully transferred by dry transfer technique on Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), glass and quartz substrates. SEM (FIG. 3a) and TEM (FIG. 3b) images show long CNTs and a clean network.

[0085] Only small amounts of side products could be observed on CNT walls. The diameter distribution obtained by diameter measurement of 60 SWCNTs (single-walled carbon nanotubes) is shown on FIG. 4. The average diameter calculated from those measurements is 2.1 nm.

[0086] The feedstock was prepared with a ferrocene concentration between 0.5% wt. and 4% wt., and good optoelectronic performances for CNT films were obtained with the lowest ferrocene concentration tried (0.5% wt. ferrocene in feedstock). When the concentration of ferrocene was increased, the synthesis rate of CNT films of certain transmittance increased, but so did the sheet resistance. Ferrocene concentration of 0.5% wt. was selected for the rest of the exemplary embodiment.

[0087] Thiophene was introduced in the reactor as sulfur containing promoter for CNT growth. Various syntheses with different thiophene concentrations in the liquid feedstock have been performed: the molar ratio of sulfur over iron (S/Fe) was varied between 0 and 4:1. To investigate the effect of sulfur concentration change on the diameter distribution, optical absorption spectroscopy which allows direct estimation of whole CNT diameter distribution was used. It was observed that sulfur slightly changes the CNT diameter distribution. A Gaussian fitting of diameter distributions was performed to obtain the mean diameter of CNT for different sulfur concentration (FIG. 5). The diameter increased from 1.9 to 2.3 nm with S/Fe atomic ratio increasing from 1:1 to 4:1.

[0088] The effect of ethylene concentration has been investigated by fabricating various CNT samples with different flows of ethylene as carbon source (from 4 sccm to 100 sccm). As collection time of CNTs at the outlet of the reactor was the same for all the samples, it could be observed that introducing more ethylene into the reactor increased the yield of the synthesis, and also slightly decreased CNT distribution diameter.

[0089] It is obvious to a skilled person that with the advancement of technology, the basic idea of the invention may be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are thus not limited to the examples described above; instead they may vary within the scope of the claims.