Santiago Martin

Structure of Granular Deposits Formed by Aerosol Particles Conveyed by Fluid Streams

Aerosols (particles carried by gas streams) appear in many practical applications and the understanding of their dynamics [1, 4] is needed to control processes such as, for instance, heterogeneous nucleation of vapors on preexisting particles, evolution of clouds, pollution dispersion and production of new materials from powders [3]. In this area, there is a need of controlling and characterizing the structure of granular materials formed by depositing aerosol particles. The main morphological features of these granular deposits as their bulk properties (density, porosity and structure) and interface properties (roughness and thickness of the active region) depend on the way that new particles arrive to form the deposit. The granular structure affects the chemical, optical and mechanical properties of the product and it should be tailored for new materials applications: nanostructured deposits, catalytic surfaces, layered materials and others.