Igor S. Altman

Electron field emission from nanocarbons: A two-process model

We show that the conventional consideration of the electron-field emission from nanocarbons cannot explain the experimentally observed results. We suggest a mechanism of the field emission occurrence from nanocarbons that can solve the existing puzzles. This mechanism implies two successive processes: (1) Tunneling through the low-energy barrier from the metallic region into the semiconducting region under the external macroscopic electric field and (2) tunneling through the high-energy barrier from the semiconducting region into a vacuum under the Coulomb field of an additional electron appearing in the first process.

Mechanism of nanoparticle agglomeration during the combustion synthesis

The mechanism of agglomeration of nanoparticles generated during combustion synthesis is discussed. This is based on the analysis of the transmission electron microscope images of probes collected at different heights. Although direct temperature measurements were not available, the qualitative temperature dependence of the particle formation streamlines is taken into account. It is demonstrated that agglomeration of the MgO nanoparticles, which are formed during a Mg particle combustion, occurs as the result of bonding the mature nanoparticles by the supercritical clusters existing in the system. Accumulation of these supercritical clusters in the flame has been revealed and their nature has been explained in our recent paper [I.S. Altman, I.E. Agranovski, and M. Choi, Phys. Rev E70, 062603 (2004)]. Also, some inspection of the previously published experimental data on the nanoparticle generation shows that the similar supercritical clusters may exist in another flame reactor generating titania nanopaprticles. If this is the case, the cluster-based process of nanoparticle bonding we suggest can be considered to be general.

Influence of Particle Shape on Filtration Processes

The influence of particle shape on filtration processes was investigated. Two types of particles, including spherical polystyrene latex (PSL) and iron oxide, and perfect cubes of magnesium oxide, were examined. It was found that the removal efficiency of spherical particles on fibrous filters is very similar for corresponding sizes within the range of 50–300 nm, regardless of the fact that the densities of PSL and iron oxide differ by a factor of five. On the other hand, the removal efficiency of magnesium oxide cubic particles was measured, and found to be much lower than the removal efficiency for the aerodynamically similar spheres. Such disparity was ascribed to the different nature of the motion of the spherical and cubic particles along the fiber surface, following the initial collision. After touching the fiber surface and before coming to rest, the spherical particles could either slide or roll compared to the cubic ones, which could either slide or tumble. During tumbling, the area of contact between the particle and the fiber changes significantly, thus affecting the bounce probability, whilst for the spheres, the area of contact remains the same for any point of the particle trajectory. The extra probability of particle bounce by the cubes was derived from the experimental data. The particle kinetic energy was proposed to be responsible for the difference in removal efficiency of particles with alternative shapes, if all other process parameters remain the same. The increase in kinetic energy is shown to favor the increase of the bounce probability.

On nanoparticle surface growth: MgO nanoparticle formation during a Mg particle combustion

It is demonstrated that formation of MgO nanoparticles during a Mg particle combustion occurs in the vapor adsorption regime and the particle coagulation and coalescence do not play any significant role in the process in question. Analysis of the particle size distributions shows that the rate of the nanoparticle condensation growth strongly depends on the actual particle size. The revealed dependence of the growth rate upon the size is consistent with the exponential law recently predicted. This finding can shed light on the long-standing general problem of gas-phase nanotechnology—the origin of lognormal size distribution behavior of generated nanoparticles.

Enhancement of the Performance of Low-Efficiency HVAC Filters Due to Continuous Unipolar Ion Emission

Our novel concept utilizing continuous emission of unipolar ions, which has been recently proven to enhance the efficiency of facepiece respirators, was applied to conventional HVAC filters. Laboratory study demonstrated that the air ion emission in the vicinity of a low-efficiency HVAC filter significantly improves its performance. For example, the collection efficiency of two commercial HVAC filters challenged with 1μm PSL particles jumped from 5–15% (measured with no ion emission) to 40–90% (when the ion output rate was ∼ 1012 e−/sec). The enhancement effect depends on the filter type and, generally, on the distance from the ion emitter to the filter surface. The results were explained as follows. The air ions with high mobility are deposited on the fibers forming a macroscopic electric field, which shield out some incoming unipolarly charged particles due to repelling forces. The field estimate has shown that this explanation is feasible. The enhancement effect seems to have a good potential to be employed in industrial and residential ventilation systems as it enhances the aerosol collection efficiency of a low-efficiency HVAC filter while not affecting its pressure drop.

Nanoparticle Synthesis by Copper (II) Acetylacetonate Vapor Decomposition in the Presence of Oxygen

Crystalline nanometer-sized Cu 2 O and CuO particle formation was studied by vapor thermal decomposition of copper (II) acetylacetonate in a vertical laminar flow reactor at ambient pressure. Experiments were carried out at 3 furnace temperature profiles (maximum values of t furn = 432, 596, 705°C) and with 2 carrier gases (oxygen/nitrogen with mixture ratios of 0.5/99.5 and 10.0/90.0). The results of computational fluid dynamics simulations are presented. The introduction of oxygen into the system was found to increase the decomposition rate and removed impurities from particles. The size of produced primary particles varied from 10 to 200 nm. Particle crystallinity was found to depend on both the oxygen concentration and the furnace temperature. A model taking into account the detailed chemical reaction mechanisms during the particle formation is proposed. The model allows one to build a dynamic phase diagram of the condensed products formed during the decomposition and is in good agreement with the experimental results.

Semiempirical dynamic phase diagrams of nanocrystalline products during copper (II) acetylacetonate vapour decomposition

Nanoparticle production by Cu(acac)2 vapour decomposition was studied. The composition of the produced particles varied from Cu to Cu2O depending on experimental conditions. In order to explain the crystalline phase behaviour, a kinetic model to build a semiempirical dynamic phase diagram of the products was proposed. Prevailing role of copper dimers in the processes of copper and copper (I) oxide particle growth was demonstrated. The composition of products was determined by reactions on the surface of growing particles and depended on the ratio of gaseous species. The calculated dynamic phase diagrams were in excellent agreement with the experimental results.

Fragmentation of Fe2O3 nanoparticles driven by a phase transition in a flame and their magnetic properties

The size and crystalline phase changes of Fe2O3 nanoparticles formed in a H2/O2 flame have been investigated. At flame temperatures below 1350 °C, the mean particle size increased monotonously with the distance from the burner edge; but in high-temperature flames above 1650 °C, it suddenly decreased from 20 to ∼3 nm with the distance from the burner edge. The results of X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy showed that this sudden reduction of the size of nanoparticles was accompanied by a partial phase transformation from the metastable γ-Fe2O3 into α-Fe2O3. We suggest the structural instability due to γ- to α-phase transformation as a mechanism for a rapid fragmentation of 20 nm particles into 3 nm ones.

Bioaerosol Contamination of Ambient Air as the Result of Opening Envelopes Containing Microbial Materials

Mailing envelopes containing pathogenic spores of bacillus anthraxes, which have recently been used by terrorists to infect humans, calls for a new investigation to identify a level of possible contamination of ambient air as a result of the opening of such envelopes. Here we show that opening an envelope and unfolding a letter aerosolize microbial particles located inside and create their cloud with the diameter equivalent to the length of the letter side along which it was folded. With no motion of an envelope recipient (first case study presented in this paper), the front of the cloud moves due to forced convection caused by the impulse at opening and reaches a human face (approximately 50 cm from the opening zone) in about 6 sec. The concentration of particles at that distance is about three times lower compared to the concentration in the source. Further spread of the cloud brings its front to the distances of 1 and 1.5 meters within 25 and 55 seconds with the corresponding concentrations of around 10% and 5% compared to the source respectively. The second case study presents the results for a more realistic scenario when an envelope recipient, after observing a dust cloud appearing as the result of the opening of the envelope, recoils in fright creating additional air flows significantly disturbing the aerosol propagation described in the former study. It was found theoretically and verified by experiments that the amount of particles captured by the letter recipient varies significantly depending on the geometrical characteristics of the human, distance to the opening zone, reaction time, and recoil velocity.

Two-process model of electron field emission from nanocarbons: Temperature effect

The two-process model on electron field emission from nanocarbons that we recently suggested [I. S. Altman, P. V. Pikhitsa, and M. Choi, Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 1126 (2004)] has solved the existing experimental puzzles such as an occurrence of the sharp knee in the Fowler-Nordheim (FN) plot. Our model implies two successive processes: (1) Tunneling from the metallic region into the semiconducting region under the external macroscopic electric field and (2) tunneling from the semiconducting region into vacuum under the Coulomb field of an additional electron appearing in the first process. However, this model in its original form was inapplicable at finite temperatures. We develop the model (remaining within the framework of the two-process approach, which allows the knee occurrence in the FN plot) in order to describe temperature effects in field emission from nanocarbons. Fitting of the recent experimental data on the temperature behavior of field emission from carbon nanotubes allowed us to extract parame...