The synthesis of cadmium sulfide nanoplatelets using a novel continuous flow sonochemical reactor

• Developed a continuous flow chemical reactor for fast and controlled synthesis of CdS nanoplatelets.
• Reduced processing time of CdS from 2 h in batch ultrasound synthesis to less than a minute in continuous ultrasound synthesis.
• Produced nanoplatelets of CdS averaging 21 nm with coefficient of variation of 25% and thickness below 10 nm.
• Produced cubic phase CdS using continuous ultrasound synthesis approach.

A continuous flow sonochemical reactor was developed capable of producing metastable cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoplatelets with thicknesses at or below 10 nm. The continuous flow sonochemical reactor included the passive in-line micromixing of reagents prior to sonochemical reaction. Synthesis results were compared with those from reactors involving batch conventional heating and batch ultrasound-induced heating. The continuous sonochemical synthesis was found to result in high aspect ratio hexagonal platelets of CdS possessing cubic crystal structures with thicknesses well below 10 nm. The unique shape and crystal structure of the nanoplatelets are suggestive of high localized temperatures within the sonochemical process. The particle size uniformity and product throughput are much higher for the continuous sonochemical process in comparison to the batch sonochemical process and conventional synthesis processes.