Application of efficient and sustainable freeze-dissolving technology in manufacturing of KHCO3 ultrafine particles

Abstract

The development of ultrafine particles provided a new way to solve problems in the fields of energy, environment, and medicine, and had become one of the most promising technologies. Therefore, the application of ultrafine particles required the development of cleaner, greener, and more efficient preparation methods. The new freeze-dissolving technology has been applied in manufacturing of KHCO₃ ultrafine particles, with an aqueous solution of 0.02–0.1 g KHCO₃/g water. Frozen ice particles were formed after dripping the solution into liquid nitrogen. The antisolvent ethanol was used to dissolve the ice spherical template at a temperature below 273.15 K, and the pre-formed KHCO₃ ultrafine particles inside the ice template remained in the ethanol aqueous solution. The ice particles were put into the freeze dryer to isolate the ultrafine KHCO₃ particles. Compared with the particles produced with traditional freeze-drying technology, the ultrafine powder/particles produced by the freeze-dissolving technology were smaller with narrower size distribution. The freeze-dissolving technology has demonstrated a much more sustainable and efficient manufacturing process than the traditional freeze-drying process. In addition, the influence of the concentrations of KHCO₃ and the sizes of ice particles were investigated with the discussions of mechanisms.