1. Preparation of monodisperse YSZ ceramic microspheres by high-throughput and instant-mixing droplet microfluidic system
- Author
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Deng Changsheng, Song Jing, Zhao Shijiao, Zhao Xingyu, Nie Lei, Xu Rui, Liu Bing, Hao Shaochang, and Ma Jingtao
- Subjects
010302 applied physics ,Materials science ,Process Chemistry and Technology ,Dispersity ,Microfluidics ,Mixing (process engineering) ,Micromixer ,02 engineering and technology ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,01 natural sciences ,Surfaces, Coatings and Films ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Volumetric flow rate ,Chemical engineering ,visual_art ,0103 physical sciences ,Materials Chemistry ,Ceramics and Composites ,visual_art.visual_art_medium ,Cubic zirconia ,Ceramic ,0210 nano-technology ,Yttria-stabilized zirconia - Abstract
The internal gelation process without cooling at room temperature is a significant challenge for the preparation of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramic microspheres. In this work, a high-throughput and instant-mixing droplet microfluidic system that can prepare monodisperse YSZ ceramic microspheres was constructed. It mixed two stable solutions at room temperature in an active micromixer at a flow rate of mL/min, and then the mixed unstable precursor solution was quickly dispersed into sol droplets through a coaxial microfluidic device, and the droplets solidified into gel microspheres. The washed and dried gel microspheres could be sintered to obtain ceramic microspheres. Compared with no-micromixing and T-junction micromixers, the system had the best mixing performance and Y and Zr elements in the prepared ceramic microspheres were evenly distributed. Therefore, the system overcame the problem of precursor solution solidification and clogging of the device, and provided a new approach for the internal gelation process without cooling at room temperature.
- Published
- 2021