Treatment of dicobalt octacarbonyl with TEMPO in THF at room temperature, in the presence of oleic acid as the sole additive, leads to the formation of monodisperse nanoparticles (ca. 3.0 nm diameter) of CoO; the particles agglomerate in solution at room temperature into aggregates, and this property has been used for the controlled preparation of hybrid materials.

The quality of Al2O3-TiO2 mixed oxides produced in continuous mode by using two original rapid mixers (the impinging jets and the sliding surface mixing device) as precipitation reactors is compared with one obtained by a standard stirred tank. The properties of agglomerate particles strongly depend on the operating conditions and particularly on the type of precipitator used for their production.

The dispersion of carbon black agglomerates suspended in polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) or polybutadiene (PBD) liquids has been studied. Agglomerates comprised of either a low-structure or a high-structure carbonblack were subjected to simple shear flow. Two characteristic length scales that affect the dispersion process are identified. One length scale (Lp) is a measure of the ease with which fl...