Tsinghua University: Successfully developed a roll-to-roll electrodeposition device to control the synthesis of metal-based nanomaterials

Article source: Material Analysis and Application?? Recently, the research group of Associate Professor Wu Hui of the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Tsinghua University has developed a new nanoparticle preparation technology.
It is the first to use a high-speed rotating roll-to-roll device to control the growth process of nanoparticles.
The preparation of nano-particles of various materials such as metal element, alloy and metal oxide provides new ideas and new opportunities for the synthesis of metal nano-powders
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? Controllable synthesis of metal nanoparticles is very important for basic scientific research and practical industrial applications
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? At present, the commonly used method for synthesizing metal nanoparticles is chemical reduction.
In actual industrial production, the process of metal bulk materials to metal nanomaterials requires two steps: the dissolution of metal bulks into metal salts and the reduction of metal salts into nanomaterials.
, Need to use a lot of reagents and surfactants, and will produce a lot of solid and liquid waste
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A green, controllable technology that can produce high-quality metal nanoparticles on a large scale is very important for industrial applications and sustainable development
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? Roll-to-roll electrodeposition device working schematic diagram (above) and actual photos of the device (below)? Wu Hui's research group successfully developed a continuous rotary electroplating (Rotating Electrodeposition and Separation, REDS) that combines electrodeposition and stripping technology The synthesis device uses an electrochemical reduction process to deposit nanoparticles on the surface of a continuously rotating substrate, and then obtains dispersed metal nanomaterials through a mechanical peeling method
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? REDS technology provides a controllable, large-scale, green and low-cost new method for preparing high-quality nanoparticles
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In the REDS method, the process of high-speed rotation can control the nucleation and growth of materials, which provides a new idea for controlling the size and morphology of nanomaterials
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This method is suitable for the synthesis of a variety of different metal-based nanomaterials, including metal elemental nanoparticles (such as Ag, Au, Ni, Cu), alloy nanoparticles (such as FeCoNi and FeCoNiW) and metal oxide nanomaterials (such as Co3O4)
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? By further controlling the deposition conditions of metal atoms in the electrodeposition process, this method can also prepare nanomaterials with complex structures, such as metal polyhedrons, metal nanosheets, metal dendrites, and metal nanoflowers
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Using silver spherical nanoparticles, conductive pastes with excellent performance can be prepared for printing electronic devices such as near field communication labels and touch screen panels
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Substituting the REDS method for the traditional chemical synthesis method to prepare silver nanoparticles can reduce the industrial processing cost by 90%, and has great prospects for the industrial application of silver nanomaterials
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? This work published a research paper entitled "Metal Nanoparticles Harvesting by Continuous Rotating-Electrodeposition and Separation" in the international journal "Matter", and applied for National and international patents
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