Due to the large variety of industrial products available in particle form, particle technology has a high technological and economic importance. Its applications range from the production, through the characterisation to the processing of particulate systems.

For many years the Fraunhofer ICT has applied particle technology to determine product characteristics, especially in the field of energetic materials. A special infrastructure is available for the preparation of explosion-sensitive, high-cost and often hygroscopic substances, allowing the high safety and purity demands to be met.

For the manufacture and modification of particles, depending on the material system and desired characteristics of the particle collective, various different processes are available.

Milling and crystallisation

Comminution in a milling process can achieve particle sizes of under 1µm, depending on the structure of the material concerned. Cooling crystallisation serves to purify and reshape crystalline substances. Solids with low melting points can be reshaped using emulsion crystallisation or prilling, in which process spherical particles are produced.

Coating

For the refinement of particles, fluidised processes are applied. Thin coatings for tailored surface properties are applied to the particle while avoiding agglomeration.

Particle production with supercritical fluids

The use of supercritical fluid processes for the creation and modification of fine-grain particle systems is particularly suited to temperature-sensitive organic materials.

Micro and nanocomposites

For targeted adjustment of particle properties, for example the properties of core plate systems, particles can be produced in the form of micro and nanocomposites.

Crystal engineering and X-ray diffraction

Dynamic crystal and microstructure investigations using time and temperature-resolved X-ray diffraction are available for the characterisation and quality assessment of the generated products.