Department of Applied Physics

Nanomaterials (NMG)

The NanoMaterials Group, headed by Prof. Esko I. Kauppinen, is among the top aerosol technology laboratories in the world and offers a unique environment for strong interdisciplinary research and a proven track record of productive cooperation.
Nanomaterials Group

The main research areas of the group are

  • the aerosol synthesis and mechanistic studies of formation of carbon nanotubes and inorganic nanoparticles
  • the applications of carbon nanotubes in transparent and flexible electronics
  • pharmaceutical nanoparticles and nanostructured microparticles as drug delivery systems
  • high resolution electron microscopy

Aalto Game Changer video of the NMG group (see also https://gamechangers.aalto.fi/en/).

Professor Esko I. Kauppinen, PhD (Physics)
Professor Esko I. Kauppinen

Group leader

Esko Kauppinen

Professor Esko I. Kauppinen, PhD (Physics) is the Vice-Dean responsible for research, innovations and industry relationships at the Aalto University School of Science and Tenured Professor of Physics at the Department of Applied Physics. He has published more than 450   scientific journal papers e.g. in Nature NanotechnologyNanoLetters, ACS Nano, Angewandte Chemie, Carbon, Energy and Environmental Sciences etc., having Hirsch-index over 69 and over 17 200citations.  He has given more than 130 keynote and invited conference talks and over 230 talks at world leading companies and universities. He is considered one of the world leading authors in the area of single walled carbon nanotube synthesis, characterisation and thin film applications as well as in the gas phase synthesis of particles for inhalation drug delivery. He is the founding member of the companies Canatu Oy (http://www.canatu.com), MetalCirc Oy (https://www.metalcirc.com/)and Teicos Pharma Oy (www.teicospharma.com). Professor Kauppinen is the first Finnish recipient of a UNESCO Nanosciences Medal, which he received 2018.

Research

The NanoMaterials group is active in several research fields:

  • Aerosol-based synthesis of nanomaterials: single-walled and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), metal and metal oxide catalyst nanoparticles
  • Carbon nanotube based thin film electronics: transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs), thin film transistors (TFTs), sensors
  • Materials for electrochemical energy applications
  • Pharmaceutical nanomaterials: nanostructured microparticles and nanoparticles for  drug delivery and controlled release
  • Electron microscopy: atomic resolution imaging of nanomaterials, EDX, chirality measurements of CNTs
  • Aerosol measurements and techniques: Differential Mobility Analysis (DMAs), nanoaerosol deposition by thermophoretic and electrostatic precipitators
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Latest news

Picture: Nan Wei / Nanomaterials Group, Aalto University.
Press releases Published:

Sheets of carbon nanotubes come in a rainbow of colours

Study: Nanotube films come in 466 colours, could be used in electronics, solar panels
A cartoon of the structure of the catalyst
Press releases Published:

New material developed could help clean energy revolution

Researchers developed a promising graphene–carbon nanotube catalyst, giving them better control over hugely important chemical reactions for producing hydrogen fuel
Different nanotubes layered on top of eachother
Press releases Published:

Aalto carbon nanotubes used in new material revolution

Nanomaterials produced here have been used in groundbreaking new Science paper as part of international collaboration
Nanotube transistors on a chip being tested electically
Research & Art Published:

New way to know an old friend: New method reveals clean carbon nanotube transistors with superb properties

Scientists at Aalto and Nagoya University find new way to make ultra-clean nanotube transistors with superior semiconducting properties

Facilities

The Nanomaterials group has a wide range of experimental facilities for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes and for their characterization as well as for developing pharmaceutical inhalation products.

Aerosol reactors for drug delivery systems

The Nanomaterials Group has developed the Aerosol Flow Reactor Method to formulate nano- and microparticles for pharmaceutical applications. The aerosol method enables formulating materials with different solubilities and thermal properties as novel platforms for controlled drug delivery, non-viral vectors for gene therapy and carrier-free drug powders for inhalation therapy.

Current focus areas

  • Next generation pulmonary delivery of therapeutic peptides
  • Efficient pulmonary delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs
  • Coating and encapsulation of combination drugs for pulmonary delivery

Aerosol flow reactor

Solutions where materials are dissolved are dispersed into droplets which are carried to the aerosol reactor with a gas. The particles are dried in a laminar flow followed by the coating process. Dry particles are collected by a cyclone or impactor. The general features of the aerosol reactor are listed below.

  • Jet atomizer: droplet size 300 nm, production 104-105 1/cm3
  • Ultrasonic nebulizer: droplet size 3-4 µm, production 105-106 1/cm3
  • Temperature 20-300 ºC, flow rate 1-20 l/min
  • Solvent options are many, however, no solvent mixtures are recommended

Carbon nanotube reactors

The Nanomaterials Group operates five carbon nanotube reactors based on the aerosol-based synthesis technique.

Diverse equipment

Latest publications

Stabilized Nickel-Rich-Layered Oxide Electrodes for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

Zahra Ahaliabadeh, Ville Miikkulainen, Miia Mäntymäki, Mattia Colalongo, Seyedabolfazl Mousavihashemi, Lide Yao, Hua Jiang, Jouko Lahtinen, Timo Kankaanpää, Tanja Kallio 2024 Energy and Environmental Materials

Surface and Grain Boundary Coating for Stabilizing LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 Based Electrodes

Zahra Ahaliabadeh, Ville Miikkulainen, Miia Mäntymäki, Seyedabolfazl Mousavihashemi, Lide Yao, Hua Jiang, Simo Huotari, Timo Kankaanpää, Tanja Kallio, Mattia Colalongo 2024 ChemSusChem

An Ultrastable RA-LiMn2O4 Lithium-Ion Sieve for Lithium Extraction from Brine

Xianrun Cao, Jing Wu, Zhihao Deng, Ya Ji, Qiang Zhang, Lu Guo, Juezhi Yu, Gangfeng Ouyang 2024 ACS Materials Letters

Bimetallic-MOF Derived Carbon with Single Pt Anchored C4 Atomic Group Constructing Super Fuel Cell with Ultrahigh Power Density And Self-Change Ability

Lulu Chai, Jinlu Song, Anuj Kumar, Rui Miao, Yanzhi Sun, Xiaoguang Liu, Ghulam Yasin, Xifei Li, Junqing Pan 2024 Advanced Materials

High-permittivity Solvents Increase MXene Stability and Stacking Order Enabling Ultraefficient Terahertz Shielding

Xiaodan Hong, Zhenyu Xu, Zhong Peng Lv, Zhen Lin, Mohsen Ahmadi, Linfan Cui, Ville Liljeström, Volodymyr Dudko, Jiali Sheng, Xiaoqi Cui, Alexey P. Tsapenko, Josef Breu, Zhipei Sun, Qiang Zhang, Esko Kauppinen, Bo Peng, Olli Ikkala 2024 Advanced Science

Amorphous carbon modulated-quantum dots NiO for efficient oxygen evolution in anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer

Benjin Jin, Qian Wang, Jani Sainio, Viktoriia A. Saveleva, Hua Jiang, Junjie Shi, Basit Ali, Antti Jussi Kallio, Simo Huotari, Dage Sundholm, Nana Han, Tanja Kallio 2024 Applied Catalysis B: Environmental

Aerosol-Synthesized Surfactant-Free Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Based NO2 Sensors : Unprecedentedly High Sensitivity and Fast Recovery

Sihyeok Kim, Jiye Han, Jin Myung Choi, Jeong Seok Nam, Il Hyun Lee, Yeounggyu Lee, Ilya V. Novikov, Esko I. Kauppinen, Keekeun Lee, Il Jeon 2024 Advanced Materials

Highly Sensitive and Stable In Situ Acetylene Detection in Transformer Oil Using Polyimide-Embedded Carbon Nanotubes

Sihyeok Kim, Jin Myung Choi, Ilya V. Novikov, Jeong Seok Nam, Il hyun Lee, Liang Cai, Jonghyuk Yoon, Yeounggyu Lee, Jaehoon Lee, Bjorn Mikladal, Boseok Kang, Esko I. Kauppinen, Keekeun Lee, Il Jeon 2024 Advanced Materials

Ni Drastically Modifies the Microstructure and Electrochemistry of Thin Ti and Cr Layers

Ayesha Kousar, Ulviyya Quliyeva, Ishan Pande, Jani Sainio, Jaakko Julin, Timo Sajavaara, Hua Jiang, Tomi Laurila 2024 Journal of Physical Chemistry C

An efficient approach toward production of near-zigzag single-chirality carbon nanotubes

Yahan Li, Linhai Li, Hua Jiang, Liu Qian, Maoshuai He, Duanliang Zhou, Kaili Jiang, Huaping Liu, Xiaofan Qin, Yan Gao, Qianru Wu, Xinyan Chi, Zhibo Li, Jin Zhang 2024 Science Advances
More information on our research in the Aalto research portal.
Research portal
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