Abstract
This manuscript demonstrates the design, modification and initial investigation of a rotary furnace for the manufacturing of inorganic fullerene WS2 nanoparticles. Different preparation methods starting with various precursors have been investigated, of which the gas-solid reaction starting with WO3 nanoparticles was the most efficient technique. Furthermore, the influence of temperature, reaction time, and reaction gases etc. on the synthesis of inorganic fullerene WS2 nanomaterials was investigated, and these parameters were optimised based on combined characterisations using XRD, SEM and TEM. In addition, the furnace was further modified to include a baffled tube, a continuous gas-blow feeding system, and a collection system, in order to improve the batch yield and realise continuous production. This technique has improved the production from less than 1 g/batch in a traditional tube furnace to a few tens of g/batch, and could be easily scaled up to industry level production.
Highlights
Inorganic nanotubes and inorganic fullerene-like (IF) structures of WS2 were first discovered byTenne et al in 1992 [1], which has opened a challenging field for the synthesis and applications of numerous such layered structures, such as WS2 [1], MoS2 [2,3], BN [4], NiCl2 [5], and etc
A novel rotary reactor has been designed for the manufacturing of IF-WS2 nanomaterials
For the 50 min sample (Experiment B, Figure 9b), by analysing the intensity changes of the diffraction peaks, it is clear that the oxide particles have mostly converted to IF-WS2 and there is much less suboxide left in the core
Summary
Inorganic nanotubes and inorganic fullerene-like (IF) structures of WS2 were first discovered by. IF-WS2 nanoparticles and nanotubes have been obtained from WCln and WOxCly reacting with H2S [11] These IF-WS2 and IF-MoS2 nanomaterials, in addition to their significant mechanical, biocompatible and electronic properties, are excellent solid lubricants [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20]. The incorporation of these nanomaterials into a proper matrix in composites will lead to new products with hugely improved physical and mechanical properties Another extraordinary property of WS2 nanostructures is their superb shock absorbing performance [21,22,23], which suggests an important field of application in lightweight and high performance protective composites [24]. A significantly improved batch yield and a continuous process have been achieved
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