Enhancement of stability of aqueous suspension of alumina nanoparticles by femtosecond laser irradiation

Journal Article · Mon Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4931373· OSTI ID:22489505

Seo, Youngsang; Ha, Jeonghong; Kim, Dongsik ^[1]; Choi, Tae-Youl ^[2]; Jeong, Dae-Yong ^[3]; Lee, Seung Yong ^[4]

---

1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, POSTECH, Pohang 790-784 (Korea, Republic of)
2. Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, University of North Texas, 3940 N. Elm St. Denton, Texas 76207 (United States)
3. Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751 (Korea, Republic of)
4. Materials Architecturing Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 136-791 (Korea, Republic of)

In this work, we report substantially enhanced colloidal stability of aqueous nanoparticle suspensions by ultrashort laser pulse irradiation. A Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser (wavelength: 800 nm; pulse duration: 50 fs at full width at half maximum) was used to modify the electrochemical properties of nanoparticle suspensions at laser fluences below the particle ablation threshold. The colloidal stability of the suspension was evaluated by zeta potential and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The DLS results along with the images from transmission electron microscopy revealed that the laser irradiation caused no distinct morphological change to the individual alumina particles, but a substantial portion of the clustered particles was fragmented by the laser pulses, decreasing the apparent size of the suspended particles. Also, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicates that the laser irradiation modified the surface chemistry of the alumina particles. The stabilizing capability of the proposed technique was turned out to be better than that of conventional ultrasonic treatments. The stability of the laser-treated sample with no added surfactant was maintained for up to 30 days, without requiring an additional homogenizing process such as magnetic stirring.

• OSTI ID: 22489505
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ABLATION
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
LASER RADIATION
LASERS
LIGHT SCATTERING
MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES
NANOPARTICLES
PULSED IRRADIATION
SAPPHIRE
STIRRING
SURFACTANTS
SUSPENSIONS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
WAVELENGTHS
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY