Degradation and Recondensation of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles in Laminar Premixed Flames

The behavior of technical nanoparticles at high temperatures was measured systematically
to detect morphology changes under conditions relevant to the thermal treatment of end-of-life
products containing engineered nanomaterials. The focus of this paper is on laboratory experiments,
where we used a Bunsen-type burner to add titania and ceria particles to a laminar premixed
flame. To evaluate the influence of temperature on particle size distributions, we used SMPS,
ELPI and TEM analyses. To measure the temperature profile of the flame, we used coherent anti-
Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS). The comprehensible data records show high temperatures
by measurement and equilibrium calculation for different stoichiometries and argon admixtures.
With this, we show that all technical metal oxide nanoparticle agglomerates investigated reform in
flames at high temperatures. The originally large agglomerates of titania and ceria build very small
nanoparticles (<10 nm/“peak 2”) at starting temperatures of <2200 K and <1475 K, respectively (ceria:
Tmelt = 2773 K, Tboil = 3873 K/titania: Tmelt = 2116 K, Tboil = 3245 K). Since the maximum flame
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temperatures are below the evaporation temperature of titania and ceria, enhanced vaporization of
titania and ceria in the chemically reacting flame is assumed.