Functional nanoparticles by controlled production and coating in aerosol processes

提出的研究包括一个新的两步方法功能化纳米颗粒使用气相（气溶胶路线）过程。这些纳米颗粒是由激光烧蚀法产生的，使用的是由加州大学洛杉矶分校的Frielander教授的纳米颗粒实验室开发的系统。这些纳米颗粒的涂层将通过将激光烧蚀方法与由希克斯教授（加州大学洛杉矶分校）表面科学实验室开发的大气压等离子体相连接来应用。将这两种独立开发的技术结合使用，将生产出具有定制性能的涂层纳米颗粒。将激光烧蚀过程的理论模型与粒子形成的碰撞聚并概念相结合，将使有针对性的反应堆设计和与等离子体源的成功互连成为可能。纳米颗粒表面生长的概念将应用于等离子体反应器中观察到的包覆机制的研究。许多功能化纳米粉末可以用这种新的串联技术生产，其中气溶胶合成可用于制造各种金属和金属氧化物基纳米颗粒，而下游等离子体工艺可用于沉积有机或无机涂层，包括金属、氧化物或氮化物。这种纳米复合材料预计将在纳米技术的许多不同领域产生高度的科学影响，例如气体传感器（例如铂掺杂SnO2），光电器件（例如二氧化硅涂层金），医学（例如根据其涂层特性或磁共振成像能力研究纳米颗粒的细胞摄取）。此外，将具有良好表面功能的颗粒直接应用于细胞培养，可以进行毒理学研究。与Nel¿s教授实验室的合作将深入了解颗粒表面对线粒体功能和活性氧生成的影响。

The proposed research comprises a novel two-step method of functionalizing nanoparticles using a gas phase (aerosol route) process. The nanoparticles are generated by the laser ablation method using a system developed at the Nanoparticle Laboratory of Prof. Frielander (UCLA). Coatings of those nanoparticles will be applied by interconnecting the laser ablation method with an atmospheric-pressure plasma developed in the Surface Science Laboratory of Prof. Hicks (UCLA). Operating these two independent developed techniques in tandem will produce coated nanoparticles with tailor made properties. Applying theoretical models of the laser ablation process in combinatoin with the collision-coalescence concept of particle formation will enable targeted reactor design and successful interconnection with the plasma source. Surface growth concepts on nanoparticles will be applied to study the observed coating mechanisms in the plasma reactor. Many functionalized nanopowders could be produced with this new tandem technique where the aerosol synthesis may be used to manufacture a wide variety of metal and metal oxide based nanoparticles while the downstream plasma process may be configured to deposit organic or inorganic coatings including metals, oxides or nitrides. Such nanocomposites are expected to have a high scientific impact in many different areas of nanotechnology as for example gas sensors (e.g. Pt doped SnO2), optoelectronic devices (e.g. silica coated gold), medicine (e.g. study of cell uptake of nanoparticles depending on their coating properties or magnetic resonance imaging ability). Furthermore, the direct application of particles with well controlled surface functionality to cell cultures enables toxicological studies. The cooperation with Prof. Nel¿s Laboratory will give insights of particles surface effects on mitochondrial functoin and generation of reactive oxygen species.