Synthesis and characterisation of nanoparticles by pulse laser ablation at solid-solid interface

Abstract

In recent years, material ablation at solid-solid interface by laser micromachining technique is emerging as a novel method for synthesising nanoparticles. It generates chemically pure fine crystalline particles compared to traditional methods. Moreover, it enables higher confinement of plume, thereby favouring nanoparticle growth compared to liquid-solid interface and gas-solid interface. This paper demonstrates the novel method of synthesising crystalline nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), and graphite by laser ablation at solid-solid interface. The interface was maintained by preparing transparent ice on the target placed in a glass vessel. The size of synthesised nanoparticles is in the range of 1.5 nm to 5 nm for TiO2, 100 nm to 500 nm for graphite, and 2-10 μm for ZnO (agglomerated). From the observations, it can be inferred that the process employed gives an improved rate of synthesising crystalline nanoparticles.