Molecular Nanosolids Generation by Vapor Jet Desublimation

TL;DR

A new method uses a nitrogen jet to create organic nanoparticles with controlled properties, useful in various industries.

Contribution

A solvent-free, single-step method for generating organic nanoparticles with tunable morphology and crystallinity.

Findings

The nitrogen-propelled vapor jet enables controlled nanoparticle formation of small organic molecules.

The process is validated experimentally and modeled using multiphysics simulations.

The method is applicable to pharmaceutical, flavoring, dyeing, and electronics materials.

Abstract

Critical phenomena in nature (e.g., albedo, precipitation, pollination, etc.) depend on formation and transport of nanomaterials in the gas phase, as do many industrial processes. Yet controlling and predicting particle formation and growth in the gas phase, particularly involving small organic molecules, remains challenging. Here, controlled formation of nanoparticles composed of small molecular organic materials is achieved using a nitrogen‐propelled vapor jet. The entire process is modeled in detail using multiphysics simulation, linking materials’ thermophysical properties to processing conditions, and the model is experimentally validated. This combined experimental and modeling approach presented here for controllably generating pure, molecular organic nanoparticles has broad applications in pharmaceutical, flavoring, dyeing, and electronics.

A single‐step, solvent‐free approach to fabricate nanoparticles of small organic molecules is demonstrated, using a nitrogen‐propelled vapor jet, enabling tunable particle morphology and crystallinity. Pharmaceutical, flavoring, dyeing and electronics‐relevant molecules are used, demonstrating process generalizability.

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