US-Egypt Cooperative Research: Plasma-Assisted Chemical Vapor Synthesis versus Conventional Synthesis Methods of Advanced Ceramic Nanopowders

该项目支持犹他州盐湖城犹他大学的H.Y. Sohn博士和埃及贝尼苏夫贝尼苏夫大学的Mohamed Khedr的合作研究项目。他们计划研究“等离子体辅助化学气相合成与先进纳米陶瓷粉末的传统合成方法”。纳米陶瓷氧化物粉末作为先进材料在电子、能量转换、飞机、催化、结构材料等诸多技术领域具有重要的应用前景。改进制备这些材料的合成方法将促进其在许多应用中的成本效益，这些应用依赖于具有吸引力的性能，例如高催化和电催化活性，在涂料和填料等许多应用中使用所需的优越混合特性，增强的烧结性能以及优越的电子和光学性能。化学气相合成（CVS）工艺用于生产纳米颗粒提供了通常难以用更传统的合成技术实现的独特功能，生产尺寸均匀的纳米颗粒，同时具有高度均匀的成分。本项目旨在比较等离子体蒸汽合成方法制备的材料与常规方法制备的材料的性能。提议的工作将应用等离子体反应器对纳米级氧化物粉末的CVS以及使用电阻加热炉。通过等离子体辅助CVS工艺制备的氧化物纳米粉末将被仔细表征，以确定其性能，以用于一系列应用。在美国合作伙伴的实验室中，CVS方法已经应用于金属和金属间细粉末的合成，这些结果为该工艺可以有利地应用于有用陶瓷粉末的合成提供了信心。该研究将有助于等离子体辅助化学蒸汽合成工艺的进一步发展，使其成为生产许多有用材料的先进工具。该项目还将促进该领域年轻科学家的培训，特别是为美国代表性不足的群体和埃及的年轻科学家提供培训机会。PI将积极招募妇女和其他少数民族学生协助执行该项目。来自美国和埃及的与会者还将通过互访和思想交流获得国际合作的经验。预期拟议活动的结果将通过会议和出版物广泛传播，促进这项技术的应用，使科学界和一般公众受益。该项目由美国-埃及联合科学技术基金项目资助。这些合作项目的美方支持由美国国务院提供给国家科学基金会。埃及政府为埃及方面的合作提供支持。

This project supports a cooperative research project by Dr. H.Y. Sohn of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah and Mohamed Khedr fo the Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt. They plan to study "Plasma-Assisted Chemical Vapor Synthesis versus Conventional Synthesis Methods of Advanced Ceramic Nanopowders." The research techniques will be applied to nanosized ceramic oxide powders which have important applications as advanced materials in many technological areas such as electronics, energy conversion, aircraft, catalysis, and structural materials. Improving the synthetic methods to prepare these materials will promote their cost-effective use in the many applications that rely on attractive properties such as high catalytic and electro-catalytic activity, superior mixing characteristics required for use in a host of applications such as coatings and fillers, enhanced sintering properties, and superior electronic and optical properties.The Chemical Vapor Synthesis (CVS) process for producing nanoparticles provides unique features that are often difficult to achieve with more conventional synthesis techniques, producing uniformly sized nanoparticles that also possess highly uniform compositions. This project aims to compare the properties of the materials prepared by the plasma vapor synthsis method with materials prepared using conventional methods. The proposed work will apply a plasma reactor to CVS of nanosized oxide powders as well as using an electrical resistance heated furnace. The oxide nanopowders made by the plasma-assisted CVS process will be carefully characterized to determine their properties for a range of applications. In the U.S. partner's laboratory, the CVS method has been applied to the synthesis of metallic and intermetallic fine powders and these results provide confidence that the process can be advantageously applied to the synthesis of useful ceramic powders. The research will contribute to the increased development of the plasma-assisted chemical vapor synthesis process as an advanced tool for producing many useful materials. The project will also promote the training of young scientists in this field, especially providing training opportunities for underrepresented groups in the U.S. and junior scientists in Egypt. The PI will actively recruit women and other minority students to assist in the performance of the project. Participants from both the U.S. and Egypt will also gain experience on international collaboration by mutual visits and exchange of ideas. The results of the proposed activities is expected to be disseminated broadly through conferences and publications, promoting applications of this technology that will benefit the scientific community and the general public. This project is funded through the US-Egypt Joint Science and Technology Fund Program. Support for the U.S. side of these cooperative projects is provided to the National Science Foundation by the U.S. Department of State. The Egyptian Government provides support for the Egyptian side of the collaboration.