Early stages of particle formation in precipitation reactions-quinacridone and boehmite as generic examples

For many products, such as nanoparticulate systems, particle formation by precipitation is an essential procedural step. To learn more about the processes involved in precipitation, we investigated particle formation during precipitation reactions by means of online and offline methods. As model systems we chose the catalyst boehmite and the organic pigment quinacridone. The reactants were mixed in a mixing device and led into a reaction tube. At the end of the tube, a free jet of the suspension was produced. By varying the length of the reaction tube the time between mixing the reactants and the moment of observation was varied. Thus a time resolution down to 10 ms from the beginning of the reaction was obtained. Small-angle X-ray scattering on the free jet yielded online information about the structural inhomogeneities within the reacting systems. Transmission electron microscopy patterns obtained from quenched samples, which were taken by shooting copper grids through the free jet into liquid nitrogen, provided complementary information about structural features. Immediately after mixture an emulsion-like structure develops indicating that classical nucleation theory does not apply in the present systems. This finding can be explained by assuming instantaneous reaction at the interfaces of the two reactants that meet in the mixing device. From this preliminary state primary particles form with a size in the nanometer range. The observations can be rationalized by considering the underlying hydrodynamics of turbulent mixing of the reactants.