Scaling up of cluster beam deposition technology for catalysis application

Abstract

Many research works have demonstrated that the combination of atomically precise cluster deposition and theoretical calculations is able to address fundamental aspects of size-effects, cluster-support interactions, and reaction mechanisms of cluster materials. Although the wet chemistry method has been widely used to synthesize nanoparticles, the gas-phase synthesis and size-selected strategy was the only method to prepare supported metal clusters with precise numbers of atoms for a long time. However, the low throughput of the physical synthesis method has severely constrained its wider adoption for catalysis applications. In this review, we introduce the latest progress on three types of cluster source which have the most promising potential for scale-up, including sputtering gas aggregation source, pulsed microplasma cluster source, and matrix assembly cluster source. While the sputtering gas aggregation source is leading ahead with a production rate of ∼20 mg·h−1, the pulsed microplasma source has the smallest physical dimensions which makes it possible to compact multiple such devices into a small volume for multiplied production rate. The matrix assembly source has the shortest development history, but already show an impressive deposition rate of ~10 mg·h−1. At the end of the review, the possible routes for further throughput scale-up are envisaged.

Influence of Cluster Sources on the Growth Mechanisms and Chemical Composition of Bimetallic Nanoparticles

“…A second popular method for nanoparticle fabrication is based on magnetron sputtering cluster sources (MSCS), which have been extensively investigated over the last years. ,− The general interpretation of cluster formation (also by some of the authors of this article) was that metal atoms are sputtered into the gas phase in the discharge and aggregate into clusters and nanoparticles by nucleation, successive atom addition, and finally cluster coalescence all along the path between the discharge and the exit orifice of the aggregation region (cf. Figure (b)).…”

Antimicrobial and Aging Properties of Ag-, Ag/Cu-, and Ag Cluster-Doped Amorphous Carbon Coatings Produced by Magnetron Sputtering for Space Applications

“…The purpose of reducing the carbon deposition rate was to match it with the relatively slow Ag-cluster deposition rate. Although many new approaches have been implemented in the cluster source to improve the cluster throughput, 54 the deposition rate of Ag-clusters was still a lot lower than the deposition rate of Ag atoms sputtered from the rectangular magnetron in the deposition chamber. This additional step lasted for 30 min.…”

Gas-phase synthesis of nanoparticles: current application challenges and instrumentation development responses

“…5 Two recent reviews on the subject, one by an author of the current perspective 6 and one by the group at Castilla la Mancha 7 focused on the growth of multi-elemental nanoparticles from a computational and an experimental viewpoint, respectively. Another two reviews by the Swansea group 8 and Teer Coatings, 9 on the other hand, focused on the technique's potential for catalysis and sensing applications.…”