Process Principles for Large-Scale Nanomanufacturing

Abstract

Nanomanufacturing-the fabrication of macroscopic products from well-defined nanoscale building blocks-in a truly scalable and versatile manner is still far from our current reality. Here, we describe the barriers to large-scale nanomanufacturing and identify routes to overcome them. We argue for nanomanufacturing systems consisting of an iterative sequence of synthesis/assembly and separation/sorting unit operations, analogous to those used in chemicals manufacturing. In addition to performance and economic considerations, phenomena unique to the nanoscale must guide the design of each unit operation and the overall process flow. We identify and discuss four key nanomanufacturing process design needs: (a) appropriately selected process break points, (b) synthesis techniques appropriate for large-scale manufacturing,

Designing for Manufacturing Scalability in Clean Energy Research

“…scalable. 12 Process factors that are immaterial in lab can have considerable cost implications at scale. This is especially true given that the desired outcomes at scale include objectives beyond materials performance (see Figure 2).…”

“…Accordingly, unit production costs at scale can sometimes favor a continuous flow process over its batch-style equivalent. 14 While assessing the production costs of individual unit operations can aid in identifying techniques that are suitable for large-scale production, 12 the scalability of nanomaterials manufacture must ultimately be evaluated in the context of its entire manufacturing process flow. For instance, to obtain macroscale products from complex nanostructured building blocks, numerous synthesis operations are typically required.…”

“…Whether or not individually cost effective, these must often be accompanied by separations operations to isolate the desired outputs and assembly operations to hierarchically construct the final products. 12 This adds time, capital expenditures, and materials loss to the overall process. What's worse, these effects are multiplicative.…”

“…Even when the yield of each step in a process is high, say 95%, the cumulative yield of the entire process flow (i.e., 0.95 n , where n is the number of steps) can, in some cases, be considerably lower. 8,12 As illustrated in Figure 3, even relatively simple processes (e.g., those with fewer than ten discrete steps) can exhibit low overall process yield. As a result, excessively elaborate, many-step manufacturing processes can become hampered by untenable economics at production, regardless of their attractiveness in lab.…”

Nanowire based adsorbents/catalysts for CO2 capture and utilization.

“…It is reported that the addition of Cu to Ni forms a cage like structure on the surface of Ni, Similarly, there are no prior studies on nanowire based materials for improving the coke resistance of active catalysts in dry methane reforming reaction. Even though nanowire materials are very attractive for their catalytic applications, the current nanomanufacturing technologies for the production of nanowires at large scales cannot satisfy their increasing demand82 . Currently Advanced Energy Materials, LLC., is In the thermal oxidation the paste was placed in a furnace at 650°C for two hours.…”