Supercritical fluid techniques

This chapter describes how the specific properties of supercritical fluids have been exploited in the last fifteen years for synthesizing inorganic nanomaterials. Thus, it is shown how the control of the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials (size, morphology, structure and composition) is achieved by choosing specific operating parameters. A critical analysis of the supercritical-based techniques applied to the processing of 0D and 1D inorganic nanomaterials in a controlled way is presented for metals, semiconductors, oxides, nitrides and carbons. The knowledge on 0D and 1D nanomaterials can then be applied to the design of more complex systems, such as nanocomposites obtained by the nanostructuration of the surface or volume of materials. Today, supercritical fluid technology allows the synthesis, with a reduction of the environmental impact, of well designed nanomaterials with controlled properties for applications in many interesting fields, such as catalysis, electronics, energy, optics, pharmacology, etc