Economical Production of Nano-Alloys Using Thermal Processing

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将展示一种用于商业生产纳米合金的低成本热处理工艺。纳米合金是一种广泛的新型非平衡材料，具有前所未有的微观结构（和新的性能），这些材料在小于100 nm的尺度上被人为地在零到三维中调制。这些材料由于其在单片材料和器件应用中的巨大商业潜力而受到广泛关注。商业潜力的最终实现和应用开发的速度显着取决于纳米合金的可用性和价格。这反过来又取决于开发一种经济的工艺，以商业上可行的数量生产纳米合金。纳米材料研究公司提出要证明这样一个过程。该计划的技术方法是在专有的文丘里反应器中通过控制颗粒生长合成纳米合金，然后绝热终止生长过程。这种路线的显著优点是：连续生产，强大的过程控制，更高的收率和选择性，最小的能源成本和产品的灵活性。他们希望在第一阶段建立该工艺的概念验证（重点：TiFe和MgNi），优化工艺，并在第二阶段将各种纳米合金以研究/测试数量商业化，并在第三阶段将大量纳米合金商业化。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate a low-cost thermal process for commercially producing nano-alloys. Nano-alloys are a broad new class of nonequilibrium materials with unprecedented microstructures (and novel properties) that have been artificially modulated in zero to three dimensions on scales less than 100 nm. These materials are gaining much attention owing to their considerable commercial potential both in monolithic materials and in device applications. The ultimate realization of the commercial potential and the rate at which the applications develop significantly depends on the availability and the price of nano-alloys. This in turn depends on the development of an economical process to produce nano-alloys in commercially viable quantities. Nanomaterials Research Corporation proposes to demonstrate such a process. The program's technical approach is to synthesize nano-alloys by controlled particulate growth in a proprietary venturi reactor followed by adiabatic termination of the growth process. The significant advantages of such a route are: continuous production, robust process control, higher yield and selectivity, minimal energy costs and product-flexibility. They expect to establish the proof-of-concept of the process during Phase I (their focus: TiFe and MgNi), optimize the process and commercialize a wide range of nano-alloys in research/test quantities during Phase II, and during Phase III, commercialize nano-alloys in bulk quantities.