Particle coating by chemical vapor deposition in a fluidized bed reactor

Aluminum coatings were created onto glass beads by chemical vapor deposition in a fluidized bed reactor at different temperatures. Nitrogen was enriched with Triisobutylaluminum (TIBA) vapor and the latter was thermally decomposed inside the fluidized bed to deposit the elemental aluminum. To ensure homogeneous coating on the bed material, the fluidizing conditions necessary to avoid agglomeration were investigated for a broad range of temperatures. The deposition reaction was modeled on the basis of a discrete particle simulation to gain insight into homogeneity and thickness of the coating throughout the bed material. In particular, the take-up of aluminum was traced for selected particles that exhibited a large mass of deposited aluminum.