Chemical Engineering Communications, Vol.194, No.8, 1022-1028, 2007
The effect of precipitation parameters on preparation of lithium fluoride (LiF) nano-powder
Lithium fluoride powder (LiF) is a white powder with a density of 2.64 gr/cm(3) and a melting point of 848 degrees C. This powder has several applications such as flux, glaze, soldering, and aluminum melting process, but one of the most important uses of this powder is its application in dosimetry. The commercial powders currently used for this purpose have average sizes of 5 to 10 micrometers; the objective of this research is to produce LiF powder with nano-metric particle size. In this study, the reaction of LiOH + HF -> LiF + H2O has been selected from among several reactions that were able to produce LiF powder, and some precipitation parameters such as temperature, time, agitation type, and supersaturation degree have been controlled. The morphology, phase analysis, and particle size distribution of the resulting powders were analyzed by SEM, XRD, and LPSA. Finally, lithium fluoride nano-powder was synthesized at a temperature of 25 degrees C, pH about 2-3, reaction time less than 1 s, and agitation by ultrasonic bath.
Keywords:agitation;lithium fluoride;Li(OH);morphology;nano-powder;particle size;precipitation;supersaturation