Original Supercritical Water Device for Continuous Production of Nanopowders

Abstract Well‐crystallized ZnO, ZrO₂, TiO₂, CeO₂, Y₂O₃ and La₂O₃ nanoparticles are synthesized under supercritical water conditions (T > 647 K and P > 22.1 MPa) using a home‐made continuous process. At room temperature, metallic salts with or without aqueous hydroxide solution (KOH or NaOH) are pressurized to 25–30 MPa. Then, the reactant(s) is/are rapidly heated to 673–773 K by mixing with the supercritical water in a patented reactor. Residence time is in the range from 2 to 8 s. XRD, TEM and surface area analyses highlight the production of pure and well‐crystallized nanoparticles with a uniform size distribution.