Sizing of Molybdenum Nanoparticles Using Time-Resolved Laser-Induced Incandescence

Aerosolized metal nanoparticles have numerous existing and emerging applications in materials science, but their functionality in these roles is strongly size-dependent. Very recently, time-resolved laser-induced incandescence (TiRe-LII) has been investigated as a candidate for sizing aerosolized metal nanoparticles, which requires an accurate model of the heat transfer through which the laser-energized particles re-equilibrate with the bath gas. This paper presents such a model for molybdenum nanoparticles, which is then used to analyze experimental TiRe-LII data made on aerosols of molybdenum nanoparticles in helium, argon, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. While it is possible to estimate the particle size distribution width, recovering particles sizes requires independent knowledge of the thermal accommodation coefficient, which is presently unknown.