Patent ID: 7615097

Claim:
A method of producing ultra fine metal powder through thermal plasma processing comprising the steps of: a. Generating a plasma jet plume from a single plasma gun, said plasma jet plume having a hot zone with a temperature in excess of 2000 K; b. Dispensing a metallic compound precursor directly into said plasma jet plume, said metallic compound precursor comprising a metallic element constituting the intended metal powder and one or more elements to be removed from the metallic compound precursor; c. Vaporizing said metallic compound precursor in said plasma jet plume hot zone to generate a vapor of the metallic element and a vapor of the one or more elements to be removed from the metallic compound precursor; d. Adding a reactive gas to induce a chemical reaction between said reactive gas and the vapor of the one or more elements to be removed from the metallic compound precursor; and e. Inducing rapid solidification of said vapor of the metallic element to obtain ultra fine metal powder.