Plasma assisted synthesis of complex nanoparticles – synchrotron based in situ analyses

Synthesis of complex nanoparticles are an important base for the development of new materials for a wide range of applications that are of great importance for societal development.

One such application is the field of energy generation, transfer, and storage that will be greatly facilitated by new smart designed catalytically active materials. Gas-phase synthesis of nanoparticles has shown to be a very versatile method of producing complex nanoparticles.

Alloy, core/shell, and core/satellite nanoparticles can be synthesized and assembled into new nano-micro-structured materials.

Largely contrary to the synthesis of bulk or thin film materials, nanoparticles formed in the gas phase cannot easily be studied during their formation.

For this reason, this project will adopt in situ analysis techniques based on brilliant X-ray sources, such as from the synchrotron facility PETRA III in Hamburg.

A specially designed synthesis chamber will be built, allowing the use of small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), anomalous SAXS (ASAXS), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF), for in situ time-resolved structural, chemical, and spatial analyses of complex nanoparticles during gas- and plasma-phase synthesis.