Development of Aerosol Deposition Apparatus for Processing Thin Ceramic Films at Room Temperature

Aerosol deposition method (ADM) is a spray coating process used to produce dense and nano-crystalline ceramic films at room temperature directly from powder phase of particles on diverse substrates (metal/ceramic/polymer/glass) without the need for sintering. In this method, micro or nanoparticles are aerosolized and accelerated through a nozzle to high kinetic energy and impacted on a substrate of interest. A novel ultrasonic dispersion technique is used here to efficiently disperse dry powder to form the aerosol required to carry out ADM. This dispersion device is demonstrated as a portable and scalable means for producing high concentration aerosol with high concentration stability over an extended period. An aerosol deposition apparatus that utilizes the aerosol generated from this device is designed and assembled to carry out aerosol deposition by sampling aerosol generated at ambient conditions