Elemental surface enrichment in flame synthesis: A mechanism associated with particle melting-solidification
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abstract
Elemental surface enrichment is important for functionalities of flame-synthesized particle materials, but its mechanism is poorly understood. In this paper, a mechanism associated with particle melting-solidification is proposed based on an experimental study. Y2O3:Eu particles were generated by flame assisted spray pyrolysis (FASP), using H 2/O2 flames or H2/air flames. The particles were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). H2/O2 flames resulted in particles with Eu surface enrichment, i.e. the surface Eu concentration was several times higher than the overall Eu concentration; there was no elemental surface enrichment in particles from H2/air flames. The Eu surface enrichment in H2/O2 flames was attributed to elemental partitioning during solidification of molten Y2O3:Eu particles; in H2/air flames the particles did not melt and hence there was no elemental surface enrichment. The findings of this study suggest that elemental surface enrichment may be a common phenomenon for binary metal oxide particles that experience melting-solidification. Such particles should be examined for elemental surface enrichment, both for understanding their functionality and for their potential biological effects. 2010 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
