International Journal of Trendy Research in Engineering and Technology

Volume 4 Issue 1 Feb’ 2020

ISSN NO 2582-0958
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A REVIEW ON PREPARATION METHODS OF NANOCOMPOSITES

K. TAMIZH SELVI
Dept. of Physics, Vel Tech High Tech Engineering College, Chennai, India
*corresponding author [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Nanocomposites are the emerging material in the field of nanotechnology disciplines such as electrical engineering,
mechanical engineering, physics, chemistry, biology and material science. Nanocomposite is a multiphase solid
material, in which atleast one of the phases shows dimensions in the nanometer range (1 nm=10 -9 m).
Nanocomposites are multifunctional materials due to their high transparency, electrical conductivity, increased
environmental stability, diffusion constants, mechanical strength, optical quality, heat resistance and recyclability. In
this review Various methods of preparation of Nanocomposirtes will be discussed

I INTRODUCTION

There are various methods followed to produce

nanocomposites such as melt processing (1), high
speed vibrating milling technique (2), ball-milling
method (3), microwave assisted technique (4,5),
Solvothermal method (6), hydrothermal method (7),
chemical vapour deposition (8), template synthesis
(9), sputter deposition (10), co-precipitation
technique (11), controlled synthesis (12), wet
impregnation method (13), sol-gel method (14), etc.

II Ball Milling Method

Ball milling is an example of top-down method used

for the synthesis of nano materials. It is a simple, low Figure 1.Schematic representation of the principle
cost technique and all types of materials can be of mechanical milling
produced by this method. Mostly, ceramics and
metallic nanomaterial can be prepared by this
II Solvothermal Synthesis
method. These mills consists of wolfram carbide or
steel which acts as grinding media. These ball mills
A solvothermal synthesis is a method of growing
rotates with high energy around a horizontal axis
single crystals in a closed reaction vessel (Autoclave)
inside a drum and crush the solid material into
at a high temperature greater than the boiling point of
nanocrystallites. This method is not suitable for non-
the solvent at high pressure (105 Pa). Solvothermal
oxides. Metal oxides like Zinc Oxide (ZnO) and
means the precursor solvent may be aqueous and
Cerium Oxide (CeO2) can be prepared by this
non-aqueous. It is similar to the hydrothermal
method. It is an attractive technique of solvent free
synthesis route, but the solvent used for the
synthesis. Figure 1.4 shows schematic representation
hydrothermal synthesis is water. Using this method,
of the principle of ball milling method.
one can gain the benefits of both the hydrothermal
and sol-gel routes. The size, shape distribution and
crystallinity of metal oxide nanostructures are greatly
controlled by this method. The reaction temperature,
time, solvent type, precursor type and surfactant type
have played an important role on the properties of the
nanomaterials. Solvothermal method is used in
laboratory for the synthesis of nano titanium dioxide

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 International Journal of Trendy Research in Engineering and Technology
Volume 4 Issue 1 Feb’ 2020
ISSN NO 2582-0958
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(TiO2), graphene, carbon and other materials. In

recent years, fluorides, nitrides, hybrid materials such
as inorganic/biological and inorganic/organic
materials with specific properties can be prepared by
this method.

III Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process involves (Source: Marcio R. Loos 2017).
the deposition of solid thin-film to the target surfaces.
It is also used to synthesis high purity bulk powders, Fig.2 Schematic diagram of the CVD apparatus
bulk materials as well as fabricating nanocomposite
materials via infiltration techniques. The precursors
may be solid, liquid or a gaseous form at ambient IV Sputter Deposition
conditions but it is converted into vapor before it
transferred into the reactor. These vapour precursor is It involves the ejection of atoms from a target
delivered to the hot wall reactor under ambient material onto a substrate and they condensed to
temperature and it is allowed to deposit on the hot form a film. The sputtering atom should possess the
substrate. They react or decompose into solid phase higher kinetic energy (>>1eV). The sputtering gas is
which deposits on the substrate. CVD is a preferred often an inert gas such as Argon (Ar). For efficient
method to process any metallic or ceramic momentum transfer, the atomic weight of the
compounds such as borides, nitrides, metals, alloys, sputtering gas should be close to the atomic weight
Oxides and intermetallic compounds. of the target,
so far sputtering light elements Neon (Ne) is
preferable while for heavy elements Krypton (Kr) or
Since 1960, CVD has been used to produce carbon Xenon (Xe) are used. In sputtering process (shown
filaments and fibers. In this method, a carbon-
in Figure 1.6), the composition of final product is
containing gas is decomposed to a high temperature
the same as the composition of initial precursor
(600oC or higher) and deposits on a substrate in the material. This method is highly suitable for
presence of catalyst metal particles as shown in non-agglomerated and ultra pure metals.
Figure 1.5. The lower temperatures used in this
method reduce production costs. Carbon nanotubes
(CNTs) fabricated by this method have a large One of the most important applications of sputtering
number of defects. is the production of computer hard disks, CDs and
DVDs. This method is widely used in semiconductor
industry for thin film deposition of various materials
Chemical Vapour Deposition technique in integrated circuit (IC) processing. Sputtering
is mainly uses in coatings, corrosion resistance, wear process is also used in the manufacturing of thin film
resistance and erosion protection. It has an transistor and photovoltaic solar cells.
application for the synthesis of catalysts,
nanopowders and fibers. It is also used in the
fabrication of semiconductor devices such as
integrated circuits, optoelectronic devices and
sensors.

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 International Journal of Trendy Research in Engineering and Technology
Volume 4 Issue 1 Feb’ 2020
ISSN NO 2582-0958
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

composites with high purity and high homogeneity

can be produced by this method. An outline of the
sol-gel method is shown in
Figure 1.7.

Fig.3 Schematic diagram of Sputter deposition

V Co-precipitation

In a co-precipitation method, the final product is

obtained by subsequently calcined the precipitate of a
substance at appropriate temperature. The desired
properties of final product can be obtained by
controlling the temperature, concentration of
solution, PH and stirring speed of mixture. In this
method, the reactant mixes homogeneously, a Fig.4 Sol-gel Process
precipitate is formed which reduces the reaction
temperature. By calcining the precipitate at suitable
temperature, a powder product is obtained. A fine Sol-gel is a useful self-assembly process especially
metal nanopowder product at low temperature can be for the fabrication of metal oxides. Sol - a colloid that
directly synthesized by this method. is suspended in a liquid, gel - a suspension that keeps
Co-precipitation is also used as a method of magnetic its shape. Thus sol-gels are suspensions of colloids in
nanoparticle synthesis. liquids that keep their shape

VI Sol-gel Method Sol-gel formation occurs in four steps,

Sol-gel method is a novel chemical route to produce 1. Hydrolysis

ceramics and ceramic nanocomposites. It is a simple 2. Condensation and polymerization
and low temperature synthesis technique with a wide
3. Growth of particles
range of structural and micro-structural applications.
The materials derived from sol-gel technique have 4. Agglomeration
formed wide range of applications in
microelectronics, solar-cells, intelligent coatings and Usually metal alkoxide (M(OR)n is used as a
batteries as well as in medical field. In the beginning, precursor material in sol-gel process. ‘M’ is the
researchers have focused the sol-gel method to metal, ‘O’ is the oxygen and ‘R’ is the organic group.
produce silica and silicate glasses but they have By adding a small amount of water, hydrolysis takes
progressively established this technique for the place. Since water and metal alkoxide are insoluble in
production of many oxides, non-oxide ceramics and each other, they are dissolved in a common alcoholic
composites. Using this method one can produce solvent in order to carry out the reaction. In the
materials in the forms of bulk, fibers, sheets, coating hydrolysis reaction, the hydroxyl group (OH)
films and particles at relatively low temperature. New
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 International Journal of Trendy Research in Engineering and Technology
Volume 4 Issue 1 Feb’ 2020
ISSN NO 2582-0958
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replaced the alkoxide groups (OR). considered to be more suitable for the preparation of
Polycondensation reaction produces a gel, a three multicomponent materials
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 International Journal of Trendy Research in Engineering and Technology
Volume 4 Issue 1 Feb’ 2020
ISSN NO 2582-0958
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