Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vedant Singh

Date

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Committee Chair

Ranganathan Gopalakrishnan

Committee Member

Alexander J. Headley

Committee Member

Amir Hadadzadeh

Abstract

Titanium dioxide has peaked significant interest due to its unique physical and chemical properties, making it highly valuable in a range of applications such as photocatalysis, solar energy conversion and biomedical devices. The use of plasma-based synthesis techniques offers several advantages over conventional methods such as higher purity, precise control over particle size and the ability to tailor phase composition. This study presents the successful design, construction and operational validation of a custom-built Inductively Coupled Plasma reactor (ICPr), tailored for gas phase nanoparticle synthesis, under low pressure conditions. The reactor’s ability to generate stable plasma in both E- and H-modes is demonstrated, although synthesis process was ultimately conducted in E-mode due to downstream sample collection constraints. Following reactor validation, he ICPr was utilized to synthesize TiO₂ nanoparticles using titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) as the vapor phase precursor. The TTIP vapor was decomposed within the plasma zone to produce titania aerosols, which were subsequently collected downstream. The synthesized material was characterized using Energy Dispersive X?ray Spectroscopy (EDS) to confirm elemental composition, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) to assess crystallinity, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for morphological evaluation. While EDS did confirm successful formation of Ti and O species, SEM and XRD results were inconclusive suggesting modification in sample collection and utilizing TEM moving forward. This study demonstrates a functional reactor for plasma-based nanoparticle synthesis, while also identifying current limitations and outlining potential directions for future system enhancements and process optimization.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open Access

Download

Share

COinS