Validation of the silicon nanoparticle production on the pilot plant scale via long-term gas-phase synthesis using a microwave plasma reactor

The formation of crystalline silicon nanoparticles by homogeneous gas-phase reactions as a direct way to produce high-purity raw material is applied. For this purpose, a microwave-assisted plasma reactor is used. Goal of this paper is to show the scalability of our process technology from laboratory scale to pilot plant scale while maintaining the particle characteristics. This is demonstrated by producing and analyzing silicon nanoparticles during long-term synthesis in a pilot-scale microwave plasma reactor over a period of six hours. The focus is on a high production rate in conjunction with consistent particle characteristics. A continuous production of the mostly spherical crystalline silicon particles with a count median diameter (CMD) of 23.4 nm and a geometric standard deviation of 1.5 is shown using TEM analysis. The stability of the synthesis process is monitored by means of regular sampling and analyzing batch samples extracted from the process every 30 minutes. Here it is shown that the CMD varies statistically between 21 and 26 nm. Moreover, the decomposition rate of the precursor was determined to be 99%, while the energy supply remained constant. A constant production rate of about 200 g∙h−1 is shown.