Patent Publication Number: US-2016236296-A1

Title: Nanoparticle Manufacturing System

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the technology field of nanoparticle, and more particularly to a nanoparticle manufacturing system. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Nanoparticle is a micro solid grain constituted by dozens of atoms to hundreds of atoms and includes very special physical and chemical characteristics. Moreover, the nanoparticles generally have grain sizes ranged from 1 nm to 100 nm, and can be applied to chemical and electronic categories. In chemical category, the nanoparticles can be manufactured to a catalyst having extremely high catalytic efficiency. Besides, in electronic category, the nanoparticles can be processed to a plurality of nano metal wires for further forming a metal mesh structure; therefore, the formed metal mesh structure can be applied in a touch panel. In addition, some special metal such as aluminum (Al) and lead (Pb) can be processed to a superconductor by using nanotechnology. Base on above descriptions, it is able to know that nanotechnology and nanoparticles have been widely applied in many categories consisting of chemical, material, optoelectronics, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. 
     Because nanomaterial has broad applications, scientists have made great efforts to research and develop various equipment and method for fabricating nanoparticles and/or a nano-unit. In conventional, the nanoparticle fabrication are carried out by using laser ablation method, metal vapor synthesis method and chemical reduction method, wherein the laser ablation method is a most-frequently-used method for fabricating the nanoparticles and/or the nano-unit. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a framework view of a conventional laser ablation equipment. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the conventional laser ablation equipment  1 ′ consists of: a laser source  10 ′, a substrate  11 ′, a condenser lens  12 ′, an ablation chamber  13 ′, a first mixing chamber  14 ′, a first pump  15 ′, a second mixing chamber  14   a ′, and a second pump  15   a ′; wherein the substrate  11 ′ is disposed on the bottom of the ablation chamber  13 ′, and a target  2 ′ such as a metal block is put on the substrate  11 ′. 
     In the conventional laser ablation equipment  1 ′, a laser beam emitted by the laser source  10 ′ is concentrated by the condenser lens  12 ′, and then the concentrated laser beam would pass a transparent window  130 ′ disposed on the top of the ablation chamber  13 ′, so as to further shoot onto the surface of the target  2 ′ put on the bottom of the ablation chamber  13 ′. Therefore, metal ablation would occur on the target  2 ′ because the target  2 ′ is irradiated by the laser beam having a controlled power of 90 mJ/pulse, such that a high-density metal atom cluster is produced on the target  2 ′. Furthermore, through the action provided by a surfactant solution  3 ′ (for example, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)), a plurality of metal nanoparticles are formed in the ablation chamber  13 ′. 
     From  FIG. 1 , it is able to know that the formed metal nanoparticles are next transferred to the first mixing chamber  14 ′ and the second mixing chamber  14   a ′ through a first collecting tube  131 ′ and a second collecting tube  131   a ′, respectively. Moreover, in the conventional laser ablation equipment  1 ′, the first pump  15 ′ is used for inputting a first polymer solution to the first mixing chamber  14 ′ via the first solution inputting tube  151 ′, and the second pump  15   a ′ is adopted to input a second polymer solution to the second mixing chamber  14   a ′ through the second solution inputting tube  151   a ′. Therefore, the metal nanoparticles and the first polymer solution can be mixed to a first nano-polymer solution, and the metal nanoparticles and the second polymer solution can be mixed to a second nano-polymer solution. Eventually, the first nano-polymer solution and the second nano-polymer solution would be transferred to a first product processing stage and a second product processing stage by using a first outputting tube  141 ′ and a second outputting tube  141   a ′, respectively; such that the first nano-polymer solution and the second nano-polymer solution can be further processed to a first composite nano unit and a second composite nano unit in the first product processing stage and the second product processing stage. 
     Although the laser ablation equipment  1 ′ are conventionally used to fabricate a variety of composite nano products, the conventional laser ablation equipment  1 ′ has revealed some drawbacks and shortcomings in practical execution; wherein the drawbacks and shortcomings showed by the conventional laser ablation equipment  1 ′ are as follows:
     (1) when using the laser ablation equipment  1 ′ to carry out nano unit fabrication, the power of the laser beam must be precisely controlled at 90 mJ/pulse for facilitating the metal ablation occur on the target  2 ′. So that, the engineers skilled in laser ablation technologies are able to easily know that the laser source  10 ′ applied in the laser ablation equipment  1 ′ should be a high-cost laser generating device resulted from the requirements of high power and high precision.   (2) moreover, when the laser ablation equipment  1 ′ is operated, a laser beam emitted by the laser source  10 ′ is concentrated by the condenser lens  12 ′, and then the concentrated laser beam would further shoot onto the surface of the target  2 ′ disposed on the bottom of the ablation chamber  13 ′ for making the metal ablation occur on the target  2 ′. However, resulted from the surface of target  2 ′ (i.e., metal block) is bumpy, the grain sizes of the metal nanoparticles produced through the metal ablation may be uneven.   (3) inheriting to above point (1), because the ablation chamber  13 ′ is filled with the surfactant solution  3 ′, the laser beam shooting into the ablation chamber  13 ′ may be influenced by reflection and/or refraction effects occurring from the surfactant solution  3 ′. As a result, the use cost of the laser ablation equipment  1 ′ would be increased due to the low incidence rate of the laser beam.   (4) inheriting to above point (2), because the ablation chamber  13 ′ is filled with the surfactant solution  3 ′, the laser beam shooting into the ablation chamber  13 ′ may be influenced by reflection and/or refraction effects occurring from the surfactant solution  3 ′. As a result, the use cost of the laser ablation equipment  1 ′ would be increased due to the low incidence rate of the laser beam.   

     Accordingly, in view of the conventional laser ablation equipment  1 ′ still include drawbacks, the inventor of the present application has made great efforts to make inventive research thereon and eventually provided a nanoparticle manufacturing system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a nanoparticle manufacturing system differing from conventional nanoparticle fabricating equipment. In this nanoparticle manufacturing system, a laser beam emitted from a laser source is directly guided to the surface of a target disposed in an ablation chamber through a light guide tube, such that the laser beam is prevented from being influenced by reflection and/or refraction effects occurring from the cooling liquid filled in the ablation chamber. Moreover, in this nanoparticle manufacturing system, a light guidance-out end of the light guide tube is controlled to be apart from the target surface by a specific distance (&lt;5 mm). Thus, the laser beam is able to effectively process the target to a plurality of nanoparticles by way of laser ablation, in spite of the laser beam provided by the laser source is a low-power laser beam (&lt;30 mJ/pulse). 
     Accordingly, in order to achieve the primary objective of the present invention, the inventor of the present invention provides a nanoparticle manufacturing system, comprising: 
     an ablation chamber, having a transparent window on the top thereof; 
     a substrate, disposed in the ablation chamber for a target being put thereon; 
     a cooling liquid inputting device, connected to the ablation chamber via a cooling liquid transmitting tube, and used for inputting a cooling liquid to the ablation chamber; wherein a liquid surface height of the cooling liquid is controlled to be apart from a disposing height of the transparent window by a first distance, moreover, the liquid surface height being apart from the surface of the target with a second distance; 
     a laser source for providing a laser beam; 
     at least one light guide tube, having a light guidance-in end connected to the laser source and a light guidance-out end, wherein the light guidance-out end is extended into the ablation chamber for being apart from the surface of the target with a third distance; wherein the laser beam emitted by the laser source is guided into the ablation chamber through the at least one light guide tube, so as to process the target to a plurality of nanoparticles. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention as well as a preferred mode of use and advantages thereof will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a framework view of a conventional laser ablation equipment; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic framework diagram of a nanoparticle manufacturing system according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  shows a connection framework of an ablation chamber, a light guide tube and a low-pressure homogenizer; 
         FIG. 4  is a first framework diagram of a nano unit manufacturing system according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a second framework diagram of a nano unit manufacturing system. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     To more clearly describe a nanoparticle manufacturing system according to the present invention, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings hereinafter. 
     Please simultaneously refer to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a schematic framework diagram of a nanoparticle manufacturing system according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the nanoparticle manufacturing system  1  consists of: an ablation chamber  11 , a substrate  12 , a cooling liquid inputting device  13 , a laser source  14 , at least one light guide tube  15 , a target transferring device  1 A, a liquid surface controlling device  1 B, a low-pressure homogenizer  1 C, and a constant temperature device (not shown). In which, the ablation chamber  11  is made of polytetrafluoroethene (PTFE) and has a transparent window  111  on the top thereof. 
     Continuously referring to  FIG. 2 , and please simultaneously refer to  FIG. 3 , where a connection framework of the ablation chamber  11 , the light guide tube  15  and the low-pressure homogenizer  1 C is shown. As shown in FIGS., the substrate  12  is disposed in the ablation chamber  11  for a target  2  being put thereon. When applying the nanoparticle manufacturing system  1 , engineers can operate the target transferring device  1 A connected to the ablation chamber  11  for transferring the target  2  into the ablation chamber  11 . In the present invention, the target  2  is an inert metal target and the material of the substrate  11  is the same to the target  2 . Besides, the cooling liquid inputting device  13  is connected to the ablation chamber  11  via a cooling liquid transmitting tube  131 . Particularly, the cooling liquid transmitted from the cooling liquid inputting device  13  into the ablation chamber  11  is an organic-phase cooling liquid or a water-phase cooling liquid. Moreover, the liquid surface height of the cooling liquid is controlled to be apart from the disposing height of the transparent window  111  and the surface of the target  2  by a first distance d 1  (&lt;5 mm) and a second distance d 2  (&lt;5 cm), respectively. In which, the said liquid surface height is controlled and adjusted by using the liquid surface controlling device  1 B to fill the cooling liquid into the ablation chamber  11  and/or pumping the cooling liquid out of the ablation chamber  11 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , a laser beam provided by the laser source  14  is guided to the surface of the target  2  through the at least one light guide tube  15 . In the present invention, the light guide tube  15  is an optic fiber or a quartz glass column having a light guidance-in end  151  connected to the laser source  14  and a light guidance-out end  152 . Moreover, the light guidance-out end  152  is extended into the ablation chamber  11  for being apart from the surface of the target  2  with a third distance d 3  (&lt;5 mm). Thus, the laser beam provided by the laser source  14  can be guided to the surface of the target  2  effectively and directly, so as to process the target  2  to a plurality of nanoparticles by way of laser ablation. Herein, it needs to stress that, because the material of the substrate  12  is the same to the target  2 , the laser beam shooting out the target  2  would further shoot onto the substrate  12 . That is, the inner bottom of the ablation chamber  11  is protected by the substrate  12  from being shot by the laser beam shooting out the target  2 , such that some extra pollutant resulted from the laser beam shooting onto the inner bottom of the ablation chamber  11  can be prevented from being produced. 
     In addition, a low-pressure homogenizer  1 C and a constant temperature device are also added in this nanoparticle manufacturing system  1 , wherein the low-pressure homogenizer  1 C is connected to the ablation chamber and used for facilitating the cooling liquid flow circularly in the ablation chamber  11 , so as to accelerate the formation of the nanoparticles. Moreover, constant temperature system is connected to the ablation chamber  11  for maintain the temperature of the cooling liquid. 
     From above descriptions, it is able to understand that the said nanoparticle manufacturing system  1  is a laser ablation equipment. In the present invention, this nanoparticle manufacturing system  1  is further developed to a nano unit manufacturing system. Please refer to  FIG. 4 , where a first framework diagram for the nano unit manufacturing system is shown. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the nano unit manufacturing system consists of: the aforesaid nanoparticle system  1 , a primary mixing device  16 , a polymer material inputting device  17 , a secondary mixing device  18 , a nano unit producing device  19 , a first high-pressure homogenizer  1 D, and a second high-pressure homogenizer  1 E. 
     Inheriting to above descriptions, the primary mixing device  16  is connected to the ablation chamber  11  through a nanoparticle transmitting tube  112 , and the polymer material inputting device  17  is connected to the primary mixing device  16  via a polymer material transmitting tube  171 . By such disposing, the nanoparticles and a polymer solution are transmitted to the primary mixing device  16  via the nanoparticle transmitting tube  112  and the polymer material transmitting tube  171 , respectively; therefore, the primary mixing device  16  is able to mix the nanoparticles and polymer solution to a primary mix solution. Herein the said polymer solution is an organic-phase polymer solution or a water-phase polymer solution. 
     The secondary mixing device  18  is connected to the primary mixing device  16  via a first mix solution transmitting tube  161 , and the nano unit producing device  19  is connected to the secondary mixing device  18  through a second mix solution transmitting tube  181 . Therefore, the primary mix solution can be transmitted from the primary mixing device  16  into the secondary mixing device  18 , and then the primary mix solution is further process to a nanoparticles/polymer mix solution by the secondary mixing device  18 . Eventually, because the nano unit producing device  19  is connected to the secondary mixing device  18  through a second mix solution transmitting tube  181 , the nanoparticles/polymer mix solution can be further transmitted to the nano unit producing device  19 , so as to be processed to a composite nano unit. Herein, it is noted that the ablation chamber  11 , the primary mixing device  16 , the secondary mixing device  18 , and the nano unit producing device  19  are provided with a vacuum internal environment. 
     In addition, for the cooling liquid transmitting tube  131  and the polymer material transmitting tube  171  are respectively disposed with a first flow rate controlling valve  132  and a second flow rate controlling valve  172  thereon. Moreover, the first high-pressure homogenizer  1 D connected to the primary mixing device is used for accelerating the mix of the nanoparticles and the polymer solution, and the second high-pressure homogenizer  1 E connected to the secondary mixing device is adopted for accelerating the process of the nanoparticles/polymer mix solution. 
     Although  FIG. 4  depicts that the nano unit manufacturing system can be constituted by a nanoparticle manufacturing system  1 , a primary mixing device  16 , a polymer material inputting device  17 , a secondary mixing device  18 , a nano unit producing device  19 , a first high-pressure homogenizer  1 D, and a second high-pressure homogenizer  1 E, that cannot used for limiting the possible embodiment of the nano unit manufacturing system. Please refer to  FIG. 5 , there is shown a second framework diagram for the nano unit manufacturing system. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the nano unit manufacturing system can also be constituted by the aforesaid nanoparticle manufacturing system  1 , a powder manufacturing device  1 R and the aforesaid polymer material inputting device  17 . In which, the powder manufacturing device  1 R is connected to the ablation chamber  11  through the nanoparticle transmitting tube  112 . Thus, the polymer solution outputted by the polymer material inputting device  17  and the nanoparticles outputted by the ablation chamber  11  can be transmitted to the powder manufacturing device  1 R, so as to be further processed to a powdered nano unit. 
     Therefore, through above descriptions, the nanoparticle manufacturing system  1  proposed by the present invention has been introduced completely and clearly; in summary, the present invention includes the advantages of:
     (1) Differing from conventional nanoparticle fabricating equipment, the nanoparticle manufacturing system  1  provided by the present invention mainly uses a light guide tube  15  for guiding the laser beam emitted by the laser source  14  onto the surface of the target  2  disposed in the ablation chamber  11 , such that the laser beam is prevented from being influenced by reflection and/or refraction effects occurring from the cooling liquid filled in the ablation chamber  11 .   (2) Moreover, in this nanoparticle manufacturing system  1 , a light guidance-out end  152  of the light guide tube  15  is controlled to be apart from the target surface by a specific distance (&lt;5 mm). Thus, the laser beam is able to effectively process the target  2  to a plurality of nanoparticles by way of laser ablation, in spite of the laser beam provided by the laser source  14  is a low-power laser beam (&lt;30 mJ/pulse).   (3) Furthermore, because the said specific distance is especially controlled to 5 mm, the grain sizes of the nanoparticles produced through the laser ablation are uniform even if the surface of target  2 ′ is bumpy.   

     The above description is made on embodiments of the present invention. However, the embodiments are not intended to limit scope of the present invention, and all equivalent implementations or alterations within the spirit of the present invention still fall within the scope of the present invention.