Preface

Chapter 7 **Titanium Carbide (TiC) Production by Mechanical**

Chapter 8 **Powder Process with Photoresist for Ceramic Electronic**

Minami Kaneko, Ken Saito and Fumio Uchikoba

Héctor Enrique Jaramillo Suárez, Nelly Alba de Sanchez and Julian

**Alloying 115**

**VI** Contents

Arnaldo Avila Diaz

**Components 133**

Powder technology is an interdisciplinary area that provides technological solutions to sev‐ eral application fields. Several aspects of powder technology are addressed in the research and development of new materials, especially in engineering and materials science, as a matter of priority. The subject area also covers the physics and chemistry of powders, in‐ cluding synthesis and processing and the consequences of the methodologies used in the final properties of the materials obtained. It also involves other related matters, such as ad‐ justments of equipment design and operation, industrial testing, instrumentation, mathe‐ matical modeling, etc. Therefore, the relationship between the various fields of basic and applied science with industrial demands promotes important technological advances.

Powder technology involves several issues, but it focuses on the particulate materials at any stage of production, such as the characteristics of the precursor raw materials, particle size and shape, porosity and specific surface area of the powders, chemical and physical proper‐ ties in the interface and interphase of components, processes of adhesion and agglomera‐ tion, synergy among the phases in composites, compacting, flowing, sintering, and densification processes, parallel reactions during processing, and other properties that influ‐ ence the final properties of produced materials. The main goal of this book is to outline the current state of the art in powder technology, with emphasis on two generic types of materi‐ als: metals and metal-containing composites as well as non-metal materials.

*Powder Technology* contains eight peer-reviewed chapters organized in two sections. Section 1 contains four chapters concerning metal and metal-containing composites. Chapter 1 presents several results on the synthesis of tungsten and nickel nanopowders by reduction of corresponding oxides in hydrogen–nitrogen and propane–air plasmas. The methodology produces metals with specified properties, including spheroid shapes for nanoparticles, which is of special interest for application in additive technologies.

On the other hand, Chapter 2 describes the use of the multiparticle finite element method as an efficient model to investigate the compaction of aluminum/silicon carbide core–shell composites. Various macro- and microproperties, such as relative density, stress, particle de‐ formation, mass transfer, and interfacial behaviors, were characterized and analyzed. It is shown that the compaction stage follows a densification mechanism driven by particle rear‐ rangement originated from unbalancing low forces among the interparticles. The informa‐ tion available can be a valuable reference for the production of several particulate materials.

In sequence, Chapter 3 reviews methodologies concerning the insertion of graphene and carbon nanotubes in metal matrixes to obtain reinforced composites for industrial applica‐ tions. The two-dimensional structure and high specific surface area of the graphene make this material type the most appropriate for matrix reinforcements in composite structures, even at very low content addition, mainly if compared to particulate carbon-based materi‐ als. It is demonstrated that the use of metallic salts as metallic precursors dissolved into sol‐

vents is a good approach to obtain reduced metal nanoparticles deposited on the graphene sheets to form composites directly.

Dear reader, with this book you will have access to important subjects on the engineering and science of materials. Chapters can be read in sequence as they are presented or in any sequence that the reader deems appropriate, depending on their priority of interest. You can absorb surprising information, which can be a valuable seed for new and better approaches in the near future. Therefore, you have at hand an excellent book containing several recent topics and the frontier of knowledge on powder technology, which can be consulted not on‐ ly by experienced researchers but also by students to understand how vast the powder tech‐

**Alberto Adriano Cavalheiro**

Brazil

Preface IX

State University of Mato Grosso do Sul

Development Centre in Chemical Technologies

nology area can be.

Finally, the section 1 ends with Chapter 4, which introduces theoretical relationships exist‐ ing between the function of pore distribution and average hydraulic pore size in porous ma‐ terials, such as the porous bronze alloy. It shows the relationship between the function of pore distribution and average pore size of powder porous materials and how the partial draining of the pore space can affect the calculation of pore size distribution. The true func‐ tion of pore distribution is obtained as a result of correcting mercury porosimetry data, which are able to improve the calculation accuracies.

Section 2 also contains four chapters, concerning non-metallic powders. Chapter 5 describes the sol–gel synthesis of calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite. In this chapter, the use of different drip rates during synthesis procedures shows the real consequences on the structural, mor‐ phological, and textural characteristics of calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite by the precipita‐ tion method. The drip rate clearly governs the pH of the suspension during the synthesis process, which leads to significant impacts on the physical–chemical properties of the mate‐ rials, such as the increasing of calcium and oxygen vacancies in the structure.

This is followed by Chapter 6, which presents the synthesis of single-phase nickel and cobalt ferrite nanopowders through several approaches, such as chemical sol–gel self-propagating combustion, the coprecipitation method, hydrothermal synthesis, the spray-drying method, and high-frequency plasma synthesis. The magnetic properties of synthesized ferrite pow‐ ders are clearly dependent on the synthesis method, and advantages and disadvantages of each approach are demonstrated concerning the specific surface area and the particle mean sizes, which could be correlated with the measurements of saturation magnetization.

Chapter 7 reports the production of titanium carbide by mechanical alloying and certain as‐ pects of the process are discussed in detail, such as the influence of ethanol as a dispersing liquid, which harms oxygen extraction from the titanium dioxide precursor. It demonstrates the influence of milling time on crystallinity and that the sintering process must be per‐ formed to obtain highly densified materials. The low cost of the mechanosynthesis process to obtain titanium carbides from titanium dioxide, graphite, and commercial aluminum pre‐ cursors opens the possibility of implementing this method as an industrial process.

Section 2 and the book are closed with Chapter 8, which describes the photoresist process combined with both photolithography and printing to produce integrated circuits. Several experimental parameters are changed, such as the conductive and ceramic patterns, use of the photoresist for the mask pattern, and so on. One of those approaches has permitted to achieved the miniature multilayer ceramic inductor that suppresses the minor loop. All of the patterning processes and the fabricated patterns are shown and some adjustments are included in this work as a basis for a new approach to optimization.

The eight chapters in this book each focuses on a particular aspect of the problem, but are able to provide a generic idea of the direction of current and future efforts on the use of particulate materials. Within each chapter, the reader will come into contact not only with different material types, but also with several techniques of synthesis, characterization, and interpretation of results, which can be useful to synthesize and investigate other materials in the form of powder.

Dear reader, with this book you will have access to important subjects on the engineering and science of materials. Chapters can be read in sequence as they are presented or in any sequence that the reader deems appropriate, depending on their priority of interest. You can absorb surprising information, which can be a valuable seed for new and better approaches in the near future. Therefore, you have at hand an excellent book containing several recent topics and the frontier of knowledge on powder technology, which can be consulted not on‐ ly by experienced researchers but also by students to understand how vast the powder tech‐ nology area can be.

vents is a good approach to obtain reduced metal nanoparticles deposited on the graphene

Finally, the section 1 ends with Chapter 4, which introduces theoretical relationships exist‐ ing between the function of pore distribution and average hydraulic pore size in porous ma‐ terials, such as the porous bronze alloy. It shows the relationship between the function of pore distribution and average pore size of powder porous materials and how the partial draining of the pore space can affect the calculation of pore size distribution. The true func‐ tion of pore distribution is obtained as a result of correcting mercury porosimetry data,

Section 2 also contains four chapters, concerning non-metallic powders. Chapter 5 describes the sol–gel synthesis of calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite. In this chapter, the use of different drip rates during synthesis procedures shows the real consequences on the structural, mor‐ phological, and textural characteristics of calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite by the precipita‐ tion method. The drip rate clearly governs the pH of the suspension during the synthesis process, which leads to significant impacts on the physical–chemical properties of the mate‐

This is followed by Chapter 6, which presents the synthesis of single-phase nickel and cobalt ferrite nanopowders through several approaches, such as chemical sol–gel self-propagating combustion, the coprecipitation method, hydrothermal synthesis, the spray-drying method, and high-frequency plasma synthesis. The magnetic properties of synthesized ferrite pow‐ ders are clearly dependent on the synthesis method, and advantages and disadvantages of each approach are demonstrated concerning the specific surface area and the particle mean

Chapter 7 reports the production of titanium carbide by mechanical alloying and certain as‐ pects of the process are discussed in detail, such as the influence of ethanol as a dispersing liquid, which harms oxygen extraction from the titanium dioxide precursor. It demonstrates the influence of milling time on crystallinity and that the sintering process must be per‐ formed to obtain highly densified materials. The low cost of the mechanosynthesis process to obtain titanium carbides from titanium dioxide, graphite, and commercial aluminum pre‐

Section 2 and the book are closed with Chapter 8, which describes the photoresist process combined with both photolithography and printing to produce integrated circuits. Several experimental parameters are changed, such as the conductive and ceramic patterns, use of the photoresist for the mask pattern, and so on. One of those approaches has permitted to achieved the miniature multilayer ceramic inductor that suppresses the minor loop. All of the patterning processes and the fabricated patterns are shown and some adjustments are

The eight chapters in this book each focuses on a particular aspect of the problem, but are able to provide a generic idea of the direction of current and future efforts on the use of particulate materials. Within each chapter, the reader will come into contact not only with different material types, but also with several techniques of synthesis, characterization, and interpretation of results, which can be useful to synthesize and investigate other materials in

sizes, which could be correlated with the measurements of saturation magnetization.

cursors opens the possibility of implementing this method as an industrial process.

included in this work as a basis for a new approach to optimization.

the form of powder.

rials, such as the increasing of calcium and oxygen vacancies in the structure.

sheets to form composites directly.

VIII Preface

which are able to improve the calculation accuracies.

#### **Alberto Adriano Cavalheiro**

State University of Mato Grosso do Sul Development Centre in Chemical Technologies Brazil

**Section 1**

**Metal and Composite Powders**

**Metal and Composite Powders**

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Nanopowders Production and Micron-Sized Powders**

**Nanopowders Production and Micron-Sized Powders** 

Technology for metal and inorganic compounds nanopowders production in DC arc plasma reactors has been developed. Similar DC arc plasma reactors were used for micronsized powders spheroidization. Results of experimental studies are presented. Formation of nanoparticles via different mechanisms as well as mass transfer of nanopowders to the reactor cooling surfaces are discussed. Heat flux distribution along the reactor wall and its influence on the evolution of nanoparticles in the deposited layer are investigated. Effects of plasma torch and confined jet reactor operation parameters on the granulometric, phase and chemical composition of nanopowders are discussed. Potential of the confined plasma jet apparatus for micron-sized metal and composite particles spheroidization is

**Keywords:** thermal plasma, DC arc plasma torch, nanopowder, synthesis, reactor,

Nanosized powders of elements and their inorganic compounds are the basis for development of various nanostructured materials. These materials include nanostructured functional ceramics, hard alloys with increased wear resistance and toughness, dispersion hardened and modified structural alloys with enhanced performance characteristics, nanostructured protective

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.76262

**Spheroidization in DC Plasma Reactors**

**Spheroidization in DC Plasma Reactors**

Dmitrii Kirpichev, Andrey Fadeev, Yurii Tsvetkov and

Dmitrii Kirpichev, Andrey Fadeev, Yurii Tsvetkov

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

spheroidization, metals, inorganic compounds

Andrey Samokhin, Nikolay Alekseev, Mikhail Sinayskiy, Aleksey Astashov,

Andrey Samokhin, Nikolay Alekseev, Mikhail Sinayskiy, Aleksey Astashov,

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76262

Andrei Kolesnikov

**Abstract**

demonstrated.

**1. Introduction**

and Andrei Kolesnikov

#### **Nanopowders Production and Micron-Sized Powders Spheroidization in DC Plasma Reactors Nanopowders Production and Micron-Sized Powders Spheroidization in DC Plasma Reactors**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.76262

Andrey Samokhin, Nikolay Alekseev, Mikhail Sinayskiy, Aleksey Astashov, Dmitrii Kirpichev, Andrey Fadeev, Yurii Tsvetkov and Andrei Kolesnikov Andrey Samokhin, Nikolay Alekseev, Mikhail Sinayskiy, Aleksey Astashov, Dmitrii Kirpichev, Andrey Fadeev, Yurii Tsvetkov and Andrei Kolesnikov

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76262

#### **Abstract**

Technology for metal and inorganic compounds nanopowders production in DC arc plasma reactors has been developed. Similar DC arc plasma reactors were used for micronsized powders spheroidization. Results of experimental studies are presented. Formation of nanoparticles via different mechanisms as well as mass transfer of nanopowders to the reactor cooling surfaces are discussed. Heat flux distribution along the reactor wall and its influence on the evolution of nanoparticles in the deposited layer are investigated. Effects of plasma torch and confined jet reactor operation parameters on the granulometric, phase and chemical composition of nanopowders are discussed. Potential of the confined plasma jet apparatus for micron-sized metal and composite particles spheroidization is demonstrated.

**Keywords:** thermal plasma, DC arc plasma torch, nanopowder, synthesis, reactor, spheroidization, metals, inorganic compounds
