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

Authors: Munaswamy Murugesh; Sasaki Koichi; G.L. Samuel

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, Tamilnadu, India ' Division of Quantum Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 0600808, Hokkaido, Japan ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, Tamilnadu, India

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.

Keywords: laser; ablation; cooler; ice; TiO₂; ZnO; graphite; nanoparticles.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTECH.2021.116793

International Journal of Precision Technology, 2021 Vol.10 No.1, pp.74 - 86

Received: 03 Aug 2020
Accepted: 26 Nov 2020
Published online: 02 Aug 2021 *

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