• Generally, nanoparticles are produced from the atomization, liquid phase reduction, method using plasma & wire explosion process (WEP) that is effective due to its inherent advantages in controlling particle size.
• The exhaustive procedure not only requires human intervention to fix the wire, supply the sufficient energy and control the spark gap, but also consumes a lot of time in collecting the nanopowder after the explosion, creating hindrance in the mass production.
• Thus, there is a need for a method & device that overcomes above-mentioned disadvantages of a convention wire explosion process for the creation of nanoparticles.

The present patent discloses a wire explosion assembly and the method for producing metallic nanoparticles, comprising:

• a wire explosion chamber connected with a wire feeding unit and a pair of pneumatic cylinders and a pair of electrodes;
• a controller configured to control the wire feeding unit and the pair of pneumatic cylinders in such a manner that: the wire feeding unit provides a metallic wire supply towards the wire explosion chamber;
• and the pair of pneumatic cylinders comprising a horizontal pneumatic cylinder and a vertical pneumatic cylinder

Wherein:

• The pair of electrodes comprises a high voltage electrode and a ground electrode.
• The yield and size of metallic nanoparticles is controlled by varying at least one of the power supply to the pair of electrodes; thickness of the metallic wire; and pressure applied in the wire explosion chamber.
• The wire explosion chamber is provided with inert gas atmosphere, non-stick walls, & flat base.
• The pair the electrodes are provided with the power supply for 20s, once the metallic wire to be exploded is clamped over the pair of electrodes.
• The movement of the horizontal pneumatic cylinder and vertical pneumatic cylinder is controlled by a pair of pneumatic valves.

Method

• providing a metallic wire supply, by a wire feeding unit, to a wire explosion chamber;
• guiding by a horizontal pneumatic cylinder, the metallic wire supplied by the wire feeding unit inside the wire explosion chamber in a horizontal direction, such that the metallic wire to be exploded, is aligned with a pair of electrodes;
• retracting movement of the horizontal pneumatic cylinder in the horizontal direction and restricting the metallic wire supply from the wire feeding unit, once a predetermined length of wire is reached;
• cutting the metallic wire supply, by an isolated wire cutter, at entry point of the wire explosion chamber once the wire is clamped on the pair of electrodes;
• providing a power supply through the pair of electrodes, once the metallic wire gets aligned over the pair of electrodes, in the fixed position for exploding and thereby producing metallic nanoparticles.