Silicon nanoparticle sysnthesis through thermal catalytic pyrolysis

Includes bibliographical references.Nanoparticles are considered as fundamental building blocks of nanotechnology and, silicon nanoparticles in particular, will form the basis of applications in single electron transistors, floating gate memory devices, solid state lighting, chemical sensors and flexible electronics, including solar cells and luminescent materials, printed on paper. A remaining key challenge however in the development of applications is the reproducible and reliable production of nanomaterial in sufficient quantities. Historically nanoparticles have been manufactured by top-down approaches such as milling, laser ablation or etching, and bottom-up synthesis such as colloidal chemistry and gas phase pyrolysis. The chemical processes in the latter are generally equivalent to those in the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of compact films. Due to its simplicity and the relatively straight-forward construction of the hot wire chemical vapour deposition (HWCVD) reactor, this method is further investigated as a suitable route to nanoparticle production. The objective of this research is thus to produce Si nanoparticles (powder) in sufficient quantities, through thermal catalytic pyrolysis, while maintaining control of the important properties namely size, size distribution, composition and crystallinity