Gas Phase Synthesis of Multi-Element Nanoparticles

• Published in: Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 11; p. 2803
• Main Authors: López-Martín, Raúl, Burgos, Benito Santos, Normile, Peter S, De Toro, José A, Binns, Chris
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Ablation; alloy; Alloys; Atmospheric pressure; Atoms & subatomic particles; Core-shell particles; core–shell; Flexibility; Janus; Lasers; Materials selection; Morphology; nanoparticle; Nanoparticles; Production methods; Review; Synthesis; Vapor phases; nanoparticle; alloy; Janus; core–shell
• ISSN: 2079-4991; 2079-4991
• DOI: 10.3390/nano11112803

The advantages of gas-phase synthesis of nanoparticles in terms of size control and flexibility in choice of materials is well known. There is increasing interest in synthesizing multi-element nanoparticles in order to optimize their performance in specific applications, and here, the flexibility of material choice is a key advantage. Mixtures of almost any solid materials can be manufactured and in the case of core-shell particles, there is independent control over core size and shell thickness. This review presents different methods of producing multi-element nanoparticles, including the use of multiple targets, alloy targets and in-line deposition methods to coat pre-formed cores. It also discusses the factors that produce alloy, core-shell or Janus morphologies and what is possible or not to synthesize. Some applications of multi-element nanoparticles in medicine will be described.