Review of Spark Discharge Generators for Production of Nanoparticle Aerosols

Abstract

In the growing field of nanotechnology there is an increasing need to develop production methods for nanoparticles, especially methods that provide control and reproducibility. The spark discharge generator (SDG) is a versatile device for the production of nanoparticle aerosols. It can produce aerosol nanoparticles in the entire nanometer range (1–100 nm), and beyond. Depending on requirements, and the system used, these nanoparticles can be completely contamination free and composed of one or more materials. This provides a unique opportunity to create new materials on the nanoscale. Already in use in semiconductor, materials, health and environmental research, the SDG shows promise for yet more applications. If needed, particle production by the SDG could be scaled up using parallel generators facilitating continuous high-volume production of aerosol nanoparticles. Still, there is a surprisingly low knowledge of fundamental processes in the SDG. In this article we present a thorough review of the most common and relevant SDGs and the theory of their operation. Some possible improvements are also discussed.

Copyright 2012 American Association for Aerosol Research

Acknowledgments

This work was performed within the Nanometer Structure Consortium at Lund University (nmC@LU), was supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR), and received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Program under Grant Agreement no. 280765 (BUONAPART-E). Parts of the work were preformed within the Engineering Nanoscience master program (Teknisk Nanovetenskap) at the Faculty of Engineering, LTH at Lund University. The authors thank Fangfang Yang for her help with some images.