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Production and methods

Level of production and manufacturing processes?

The current level of production of nanomaterials is significantly different at industrial level or in the laboratory. For a complete inventory of anthropic particles, consult the database www.nanowerk.com. Three types of manufacturing processes of nano-objects (physical, chemical and mechanical) are used. These objects are then processed and subsequently incorporated into a volume or on a surface. Each integration is characterized by the particle bonding force with the structure.

Mechanical processes

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Production reactor confinement.

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Nanomil DTNM Workshop.

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Sintering process.

Milling Micrometric powders (1 to 50 microns) from several alloys are milled down to a nanoscale size by agitation with tungsten or steel beads. Since 1998, INCO (USA) has produced 350 tons of Oxide Dispersion Strengthening (ODS), ZOZ (D) 600 Kg/day of a Cu-Zn welding material, APT/ANT (AUS) of ZnO nanoparticles for solar protections. Implemented in closed systems in dry phase, these processes involve high mechanical energy. The potential sources of contamination concern equipment leaks, a faulty filtration on the extractions or the recovery phases of materials.

Strong Deformations A strong deformation can refine the structure of a crystalline material (metal, ceramic) to obtain grains of a few tens of nanometers in size. This technique generally can improve toughness and ductility. The risk of exposure to nanoparticles is a priori zero.

Sintering With sintering techniques, massive pieces can be obtained from pulverulent materials (metal powders, ceramics semi-conductors, and organic). Some processes developed in laboratories are currently being transferred to industry, such as microwave sintering or flash sintering under a pulsed current (msec) of high intensity (104 to 6.104 A). The most important massive pieces may have diameters of 80 cm for a few centimeters of thickness. The preparation with handling phase is critical, the confinement of powders must be ensured.