Laser ablation of microparticles for nanostructure generation

  • Palneet Singh Waraich
  • Bo Tan
  • Krishnan Venkatakrishnan
Research Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The process of laser ablation of microparticles has been shown to generate nanoparticles from microparticles; but the generation of nanoparticle networks from microparticles has never been reported before. We report a unique approach for the generation of nanoparticle networks through ablation of microparticles. Using this approach, two samples containing microparticles of lead oxide (Pb3O4) and nickel oxide (NiO), respectively, were ablated under ambient conditions using a femtosecond laser operating in the MHz repetition rate regime. Nanoparticle networks with particle diameter ranging from 60 to 90 nm were obtained by ablation of microparticles without use of any specialized equipment, catalysts or external stimulants. The formation of finer nanoparticle networks has been explained by considering the low pressure region created by the shockwave, causing rapid condensation of microparticles into finer nanoparticles. A comparison between the nanostructures generated by ablating microparticle and those by ablating bulk substrate was carried out; and a considerable reduction in size and narrowed size distribution was observed. Our nanostructure fabrication technique will be a unique process for nanoparticle network generation from a vast array of materials.

Keywords

Microparticles Nanoparticle network Laser ablation Agglomeration Fluence Fabrication 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Barakat NAM, Kim B, Kim HY (2009) Production of smooth and pure nickel metal nanofibers by the electrospinning technique: nanofibers possess splendid magnetic properties. J Phys Chem C 113:531–536. doi: 10.1021/jp805692r CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Becker MF, Brock JR, Cai H, Henneke DE, KEto JW, Lee J, Nichols WT, Glicksman HD (1998) Metal nanoparticles generated by laser ablation. Nanostruct Mater 10:853–863. doi: 10.1016/S0965-9773(98)00121-4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Cai H, Chaudhary N, Lee J, Becker MF, Brock JR, Keto JW (1998) Generation of metal nanoparticles by laser ablation of microspheres. J Aerosol Sci 29:627–636. doi: 10.1016/S0021-8502(97)00465-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Chiou NR, Lu C, Guan JJ, Lee LJ, Epstein AJ (2007) Growth and alignment of polyaniline nanofibers with superhydrophobic, superhydrophilic and other properties. Nat Nanotechnol 147:354–357CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Hosseinkhania H, Hosseinkhania M, Tian F, Kobayashi H, Tabata Y (2006) Osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells in self assembled-peptide amphiphile nanofibers. Biomaterials 27:4079–4086CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Juang C, Cai H, Becker MF, Keto JW, Brock JR (1994) Synthesis of nanometer glass particles by pulsed-lased ablation of microspheres. Appl Phys Lett 65:40–42. doi: 10.1063/1.113066 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Kim D, Jang D (2007) Synthesis of nanoparticle and suspensions by pulsed laser ablation of microparticles in liquid. Appl Surf Sci 253:8045–8049. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2007.02.153 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Nichols WT, Malyavanatham G, Henneke DE, O’Brien DT, Becker MF, Keto JW (2002) Bimodal nanoparticle size distributions produced by laser ablation of microparticles in aerosols. J Nanopart Res 4:423–432. doi: 10.1023/A:1021644123428 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Panchatsharam S, Tan B, Venkatakrishnan K (2009) Femtosecond laser-induced shockwave formation on ablated silicon surface. J Appl Phys 105:093103-1–093103-4. doi: 10.1063/1.3122047 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Sigmund W, Yuh J, Park H, Maneeratana V, Pyrgiotakis G, Daga A, Taylor J, Nini JC (2006) Processing and structure relationships in electrospinning of ceramic fiber systems. J Am Ceram Soc 89:395–407. doi: 10.1111/j.1551-291.2005.00807.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Sivalumar M, Venkatakrishnan K, Tan B (2009) Synthesis of glass nanofibers using femtosecond laser radiation under ambient condition. Nanoscale Res Lett 4:1263–1266. doi: 10.1007/s11671-009-9390-y CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Yap HY, Ramaker B, Sumant AV, Carpick RW (2006) Growth of mechanically fixed and isolated vertically aligned carbon nanotubes and nanofibers by DC plasma-enhanced hot filament chemical vapor deposition. Diam Relat Mater 15:1622–1628. doi: 10.1016/j.diamond.2006.01.014 CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  • Palneet Singh Waraich
    • 1
  • Bo Tan
    • 2
  • Krishnan Venkatakrishnan
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Mechanical and Industrial EngineeringRyerson UniversityTorontoCanada
  2. 2.Department of Aerospace EngineeringRyerson UniversityTorontoCanada

Personalised recommendations