Flowability characterization of nanopowders

• Flow behavior of 6 metal oxide nanoparticles (TiO2, SiO2, Al2O3) was investigated.
• The flowability of these nanopowders was determined using an annular shear tester.
• All tested nanopowders showed cohesive flow behavior.
• Apolar nanopowders tend to be more cohesive than their polar counterparts.
• Minimal water content influenced noticeably the flowability of alumina powders.

The applications of nanopowders are increasing significantly over the last years. In most of these applications, the flow behavior of the nanopowders seems to be a complicated, multiparametric but critical issue for the proper design of the processes. We have investigated, classified and compared several different metal oxide nanoparticles with respect to their flow properties. The flow properties of titania, silica and alumina hydrophilic nanopowders as well as their corresponding hydrophobic counterparts were determined by means of an annular shear cell powder flow tester (PFT). All the tested powders showed difficulties in flow while the titania nanopowders showed the highest difficulty among them. The results acquired regarding the compressibility, the flow functions and the effective angle of internal friction revealed that in all the cases the hydrophobic nanopowder seemed to be more cohesive than its hydrophilic counterpart. Moreover, the nanoparticles, no matter their polarity, showed negligible hygroscopicity while in the case of the alumina nanopowders the flow properties can be significantly influenced by ca. 1% (w/w) of moisture content.

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