Modeling scale-up of particle coating by atomic layer deposition

TL;DR

This paper develops models for scaling up atomic layer deposition (ALD) particle coating processes, analyzing different reactor types to optimize throughput and precursor utilization for energy-related applications.

Contribution

It introduces comprehensive models for ALD particle coating in various reactors, assessing scalability and efficiency for energy applications.

Findings

Fluidized bed designs reach transport-limited regimes faster.

Continuous processes can achieve near 100% precursor utilization.

Models align well with experimental results.

Abstract

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a promising technique to functionalize particle surfaces for energy applications including energy storage, catalysis, and decarbonization. In this work, we present a set of models of ALD particle coating to explore the transition from lab scale to manufacturing. Our models encompass the main particle coating manufacturing approaches including rotary bed, fluidized bed, and continuously vibrating reactors. These models provide key metrics, such as throughput and precursor utilization, required to evaluate the scalability of ALD manufacturing approaches and their feasibility in the context of energy applications. Our results show that designs that force the precursor to flow through fluidized particles transition faster to a transport-limited regime where throughput is maximized. They also exhibit higher precursor utilization. In the context of continuous processes, our models indicate that it is possible to achieve self-extinguishing processes with almost 100% precursor utilization. A comparison with past experimental results of ALD in fluidized bed reactors shows excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement.