Laser-Inducing Extreme Thermodynamic Conditions in Condensed Matter to Produce Nanomaterials for Catalysis and the Photocatalysis

Vaporization from the aluminum target surface, under nanosecond laser irradiation, was evaluated in the framework of the unsteady adiabatic expansion model, while the homogeneous nucleation of vapor bubbles in the metastable liquid (phase explosion) was simulated in the framework of the classical nucleation theory. The size distribution of the liquid nanodroplets produced in the phase explosion process was found to obey a power law in agreement with the few available experimental data when it is assumed that nanoparticles formation comes from solidification of liquid nanodroplets. Some experimental examples are reported to show that pulsed-laser deposition technique is able to synthesize nanoparticles in a single step with the required features for catalysis and photocatalysis applications.