The development of a novel reactive spray technology based on the well-known gas-phase metal oxide synthesis route provides innumerable opportunities for the production of non-oxide nanoparticles. Among these materials, metal sulfides are expected to have a high impact, especially in the development of electrochemical and photochemical high-surface-area materials. As a proof-of-principle, MnS, CoS, Cu2 S, ZnS, Ag2 S, In2 S3 , SnS, and Bi2 S3 are synthesized in an O2 -lean and sulfur-rich environment. In addition, the formation of Cu2 S in a single-droplet combustion experiment is reported. The multiscale approach combining flame sprays with single-droplet combustion is expected to pave the way toward a fundamental understanding of the gas-phase formation of metal sulfides in the future. The knowledge acquired can open the possibility for the development of a next-generation gas-phase technology facilitating the scalable synthesis of functional binary/ternary metal sulfides.
Keywords: O2-lean flame spray pyrolysis; metal sulfides; process designs; single-droplet combustions; µ-explosions.
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