SBIR-STTR Award

This aerosol research focuses on the study of the basic parameters governing the mechanisms dominating the transport of vapor material to particle surfaces in flowing gas streams. It is proposed that the basic parameters be established for the physical vapor deposition of simple organic compounds on sub-micron particles of sodium chloride. This study will establish the feasibility of physically coating aerosol particles with vapor. If successful this study will establish the basic ground work for applying this technique to applications with high commercial value. An example of an application is the in-flight coating of plasma generated titanium oxide with an organic compound such as dimethicone. This application is presently accomplished by an inferior process of spray coating bulk batches of titanium oxide resulting in inconsistent particle size distribution and overall product quality. If successful the physical deposition of vapor on aerosol particle surfaces has many commercial applications in addition to powder processing such as high temperature filtration efficiency and clean room efficiency enhancement.