Pushing the Limit of Aerosol Nanoscale Engineering with Tiny nanoparticlescore
PLANET · Horizon Europe grant · 2026-01-01–2030-12-31
EC contribution
Total cost
Beneficiaries
About the data
Source: CORDIS (official EU open data), Horizon Europe. Framework HORIZON · call ERC-2024-ADG · scheme HORIZON-ERC · topic ERC-2024-ADG. CORDIS record →
Objective
In gas-phase manufacture of materials as well as in the atmosphere, the interaction between gas molecules and tiny nanoparticles (TNPs, i.e. particles having sizes from ca. 0.5 to 5 nm) determines their characteristics. These are crucial for the environment impact (climate, air quality and visibility) of TNPs and their performance in engineering and life science applications. Will two molecules collide and go their ways or stick to form a TNP that will grow to a nanoparticle (NP; i.e., a particle from 5 to 100 nm in size) of desired crystallinity? Today manufacturing of NPs is well understood, even at tons/hour (i.e. fumed oxides). However, for TNPs that hold most of the promises of nanotechnology, there is much uncertainty that hinders quantitative understanding of their formation, growth and transport and subsequently the systematic process design for their manufacturing. This project aims at advancing the fundamentals of aerosols from the sub-nano to the few nm scale through methodical experiments and comparison to state-of-the-art molecular dynamics simulations. It will capitalize on a 2023 discovery regarding the exact nature of gas collisions (from ballistic to orbiting and multi-body ones) that nearly halves the well-established value of the gas mean free path that defines aerosol dynamics in the free molecule or the continuum regime. This understanding will be reduced to easy-to-use expressions for process design at the lowest and most potent nanosize range. Project objectives are to: a) explore the interactions of gas molecules with TNPs by fully accounting for the precise structure and force fields of both entities, b) generate TNPs by spark ablation and measure their transport properties, c) develop a nucleation rate of TNPs accounting for the above interactions and d) place on a firm scientific basis the dynamics of aerosol TNPs bridging the gap between molecules and larger (> 5 nm) particles for material synthesis and even atmospheric airshed modeling.
Beneficiaries (1)
| Organisation | Country | Role | EC contribution | SME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ""DEMOKRITOS"""" | EL | coordinator | €3,498,333 |
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