Plasma expansion synthesis of tungsten nanopowder

Abstract

This article reports the synthesis of tungsten nanoparticles predominantly in α-W phase by a single step plasma expansion technique. The oxidation of the metal and contribution from the β-W phase in the nanomaterial samples was observed to decrease with the increase of both the pressure in the sample collection chamber and the plasma power. We had observed production of faceted, lightly sintered particles with up to 300 nm individual sizes during high plasma current/high pressure synthesis conditions, which were measured to have the highest specific surface area of 35 m2/g. Condensation of this high temperature material at low saturation ratio and the high collisional regime had led to the synthesis of relatively bigger particle sizes in this experiment. Cauliflower like particle morphologies was observed during low pressure synthesis conditions, which is considered to have formed through spherulitic growth processes. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) micrographs show very small crystallites remaining dispersed in an amorphous moss like the background, which was confirmed to be a mixture of tungsten and its oxides.