Induction Flow Levitation as a New Approach to the Synthesis of Nanoparticulate Titanium Carbide

TiC nanoparticles less than 16 nm in size have been prepared in a single step from bulk titanium carbide by the induction flow levitation (IFL) method. The method has a number of advantages: high production rate (up to 100 g/h), the ability to vary the nanoparticle size in a wide range (0.5–500 nm), and contactless heating (up to 2500°C). Moreover, it meets green chemistry principles. In this gas phase method, a levitating metal is heated by a high-frequency electromagnetic field. The synthesized titanium carbide nanoparticles have been characterized by a variety of physicochemical techniques: transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, low-temperature nitrogen adsorption measurements, and dynamic light scattering. The results demonstrate that IFL is one of the most promising methods for the preparation of nanoparticles and ensures high purity and a small particle size of single-step synthesis products.