Kinetics of sub-2 nm TiO2 particle formation in an aerosol reactor during thermal decomposition of titanium tetraisopropoxide

Particle size distribution measurements from differential mobility analyzers (DMAs) can be utilized to study particle formation mechanisms. However, knowledge on the initial stages of particle formation is incomplete, since in conventional DMAs, the Brownian broadening effect limits their ability to measure sub-2 nm-sized particles. Previous studies have demonstrated the capability of high-flow DMAs, such as the Half Mini DMAs, to measure sub-2 nm particles with significantly higher resolutions than conventional DMAs. A Half Mini DMA was applied to study the kinetics of sub-2 nm TiO2 nanoparticle formation in a furnace aerosol reactor, through the thermal decomposition of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP). The influence of parameters such as reaction temperature, residence time, precursor concentration, and the introduction of bipolar charges on sub-2 nm particle size distributions were studied. A first order reaction rate derived from the dependence of size distributions on reaction temperature matched well with existing literature data. The change in precursor residence time and precursor concentration altered the size distributions correspondingly, indicating the occurrence of TTIP thermal decomposition. The introduction of bipolar charges in aerosol reactors enhanced the consumption of reactants, possibly due to ion-induced nucleation and induced dipole effects.