Plasma Synthesis of Nanoparticles

This paper gives a review on the plasma synthesis of nanoparticulate powders. The concept of plasma synthesis is used quite comprehensively, it covers all processes where charged particles are observed. Therefore, the topic of this paper ranges from high-temperature processes and microwave processes to the laser and flame synthesis of nanopowders. For each of the processes discussed in this paper, the product characteristics are explained. This may be used as guidance for the selection of a process. The presentation of the paper is quite basic; this is to give people working in industry on daily problems a chance to see what is going on in this field. There is a vast amount of literature in the field of plasma synthesis. The literature was therefore selected in a way to demonstrate basic phenomena and not to give a comprehensive review of the literature.