Narrow size distribution

Each basic operation can be divided into one or more unit operations. Size reduction involves cnishing and grinding depending on the size of material handled, and these may be carried out in stages. Separations can be either soHds from soHds, based on size or mineral composition, or soHds from Hquids, ie, dewatering (qv). Size separation or classification is an integral part of any flow sheet, not only to meet product size specifications, but also to ensure a narrow size distribution for subsequent minerals separation circuits and to decrease the load and improve the efficiency of size reduction units which are energy intensive. 

T abular. A typical distributioa as measured by modem iastmmeatatioa can iaclude size information on tens of thousands and even millions of iadividual particles. These data can be Hsted ia a computer and then sorted iato a series of successive size iatervals, keeping track of the measured quantity, such as number, surface area, or mass, within each group. For narrow size distributions it may be sufficient to group the data ia linear iatervals, such as 0—1, 1—2, 2—3 p.m, etc, and then Hst the iatervals as a perceat value of the whole. 

Specific advancements ia the chemical synthesis of coUoidal materials are noteworthy. Many types of genera ting devices have been used to produce coUoidal Hquid aerosols (qv) and emulsions (qv) (39—43) among them are atomizers and nebulizers of various designs (30,44—50). A unique feature of produciag Hquid or soHd coUoids via aerosol processes (Table 3) is that material with a relatively narrow size distribution can be routinely prepared. These monosized coUoids are often produced by relying on an electrostatic classifier to select desired particle sizes ia the final stage of aerosol production. 

Avoidbig Size Reduction Since size reduction is a difficult and inefficient operation, it is sometimes better to avoid it and use another approach. Thus rather than make large ciystals and then grind them, one may be able to precipitate or crystalhze material in the desired fine size. It may even be possible to control the process to give a more narrow size distribution than would be possible by size reduction. 

Different granulation behavior is observed for broad- and narrow-size distributions. 

Strong acids are able to donate protons to a reactant and to take them back. Into this class fall the common acids, aluminum hahdes, and boron trifluoride. Also acid in nature are silica, alumina, alumi-nosihcates, metal sulfates and phosphates, and sulfonated ion exchange resins. They can transfer protons to hydrocarbons acting as weak bases. Zeolites are dehydrated aluminosilicates with small pores of narrow size distribution, to which is due their highly selective action since only molecules small enough to enter the pores can reacl . 

Cracking, a rupturing of carbon-carbon bonds—for example, of gas oils to gasohne—is favored by sihca-alumina, zeolites, and acid types generally. Zeohtes have pores with small and narrow size distribution. They crack only molecules small enough to enter the pores. To restrain the undesirable formation of carbon and C3-C4 hydrocarbons, zeolite activity is reduced by dilution to 10 to 15 percent in silica-alumina. 

In principle it is possible to extend the method to produce block copolymers in which each of the blocks is monodisperse but the problems of avoiding impurities become formidable. Nevertheless, narrow size distributions, if not monodisperse ones, are achievable. 

As these block copolymers were synthesized using the anionic polymerization technique, their molecular weight distributions were narrow. The microspheres with narrower size distribution are better for well-ordered self-organization. Actually, all block copolymers synthesized for these works formed poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (P4VP) spheres in the PS matrices with narrow size distributions. 

If the secondary stream contains emulsifier it can function in three ways. When the emulsion feed is started quickly the added emulsifier can serve to lengthen the particle formation period and hence to broaden the particle size distribution. When the emulsion feed is started later and added in such a manner that the emulsifier is promptly adsorbed on existing particles, one can obtain quite narrow size distributions. If the emulsion feed is started later but added rapidly enough to generate free emulsifier in the reaction mixture a second population of particles can be formed, again yielding a broad size distribution. 

FIG. 14 Measurements on monolayers and LB films of CdSe nanoparticles of narrow size distribution (a) II-A isotherms for Langmuir monolayers of CdSe nanoparticles of diameter 2.5 run (curve a), 3.0 mn (curve b), 3.6 mn (curve c), 4.3 mn (curve d), and 5.3 mn (curve e). The area per nanoparticle was determined by dividing the trough area by the estimated number of particles deposited on the surface, (b) Absorbance and photoluminescence spectra of the nanoparticles in solution (A, B) and in monolayers on sulfonated polystyrene-coated glass sbdes (C. D). The nanoparticle diameters are 2.5 nm (curves labeled a), 3.6 nm (curves labeled b), and 5.3 nm (curves labeled c). The excitation wavelengths are (a) 430 nm, (b) 490 nm, and (c) 540 nm. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. 158. Copyright 1994 American Chemical Society.)... 

By performing in situ the polymerization of acrylamide in water/AOT/toluene microemulsions, clear and stable inverse latexes of water-swollen polyacrylamide particles stabilized by AOT and dispersed in toluene have been found [192-194], It was shown that the final dispersions consist of two species of particles in equilibrium, surfactant-coated polymer particles (size about 400 A) with narrow size distribution and small AOT micelles (size about 30 A). 

Solubilization of vinylpyrrolidone, acrylic acid, and A,A -methylene-bis-acrylamide in AOT-reversed micelles allowed the synthesis in situ of a cross-linked polymer with narrow size distribution confined in the micellar domain. These particles displayed high entrapment efficiency of small hydrophilic drugs and have been considered interesting drug delivery systems [239],... 

Surface area is one of the most important factors in determining throughput (amount of reactant converted per unit time per unit mass of catalyst). Many modem inorganic supports have surface areas of 100 to >1000 m g The vast majority of this area is due to the presence of internal pores these pores may be of very narrow size distribution to allow specific molecular sized species to enter or leave, or of a much broader size distribution. Materials with an average pore size of less than 1.5-2 nm are termed microporous whilst those with pore sizes above this are called mesoporous materials. Materials with very large pore sizes (>50 nm) are said to be macroporous, (see Box 4.1 for methods of determining surface area and pore size). 

Electrochemistry provides routes to directly prepare nanostructures both delocalized in a random or organized way and localized at predefined surface sites with adjustable aspect ratios. Purity, monodispersity, ligation, and other chemical properties and treatments are definitely important in most cases. By delocalized electrodeposition it is possible to decorate large areas of metal or semiconductor surfaces with structures of a narrow size distribution stable nuclei-clusters can be... 

The primary goal of the researchers has been to produce Q-dots possessing all of the attributes of the Q-dots prepared using liquid-phase synthetic methods (that is adjustability of the nanocrystal identity and diameter and size monodispersity) and also the technological utility of Q-dots prepared by MBE (specifically, the deposition of nanocrystals with a defined orientation and an electrical output contact). It was shown that the E/C-synthesized 5-CuI and CdS Q-dots were indeed epitaxial with narrow size distribution and strong photoluminescence tunable by the particle size. Qne of the advantages of the E/C method is that it can be made size selective. The key point is that the size as well as the size dispersion of product nanoparticles are directed actually by the corresponding properties of the metal nanoparticles therefore the first deposition step assumes special importance. 

Micelles the mostly spherical nanoscale aggregates formed by amphiphilic compounds above their critical micelle concentration in aqueous solution have a narrow size distribution and are dynamic, because there is a fast exchange of amphiphiles in solution and those incorporated in micelles. However, micelles are defined as self-assembled structures, since the structure is in thermodynamical equilibrium. 

A production process for monodisperse, magnetic Co-, Fe/Co-, and Fe-nanocolloids having particle sizes precisely adjustable between 2 and 15nm and a narrow size distribution has been developed via the controlled thermolysis of metal carbonyls in the presence aluminium alkyls (Figure 14) [346-349]. 

Pt/Pd bimetallic nanoparticles can be prepared by refluxing the alcohol/water (1 1, v/v) solution of palla-dium(II) chloride and hexachloroplatinic(IV) acid in the presence of poly(A-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) at ca. 95 °C for Ih [15,16,48]. The resulting Pd/Pt nanoparticles have a Pt-core/Pd-shell structure with a narrow size distribution and the dispersion is stable against aggregation for several years. The core/shell structure was confirmed by the technique of EAXFS. Composition of Pt/Pd nanoparticles can be controlled by the initially feed amount of two different metal ions, i.e., in this case one... 

The measurements extrapolate to generate a 0 K value of Tcross at a size-distribution width of approximately 3%. The authors argue that these results imply that it may be possible to observe a true metallic conductivity to near 0 K in a 2D nanocluster array, giving a sufficiently narrow size distribution. 

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