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Updated: May 28, 2026

Preparation of Silica Nanoparticles Through Microwave-assisted Acid-catalysis
Published on: December 16, 2013
Formation of SiC nanoparticles in an atmospheric microwave plasma
Martin Vennekamp1, Ingolf Bauer, Matthias Groh
1TU Dresden, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
Abstract:
We describe the formation of SiC nanopowder using an atmospheric argon microwave plasma with tetramethylsilane (TMS) as precursor. The impact of several process conditions on the particle size of the product is experimentally investigated. Particles with sizes ranging from 7 nm to about 20 nm according to BET and XRD measurements are produced. The dependency of the particle size on the process parameters is evaluated statistically and explained with growth-rate equations derived from the theory of Ostwald ripening. The results show that the particle size is mainly influenced by the concentration of the precursor material in the plasma.
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