Mathematical Modeling for the Design and Scale-Up of a Large Industrial Aerosol-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition Process under Uncertainty.

Aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) can be used to produce coatings and thin films such as transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films, which are used in self-cleaning surfaces, solar cells, and other electronic and optoelectronic applications. A process based on AACVD consists of a number of steps: aerosol generation, aerosol transport, aerosol delivery, and chemical deposition. Predicting the behavior of such a process at an industrial scale is challenging due to a number of factors: the aerosol generation creates droplets of different sizes, losses are incurred in the transport, the delivery must evaporate the solvent to release the precursors, and the reactions on the surface of the deposition target may be complex. This paper describes a full process model, including the prediction of the size distribution of the generated aerosol, the number and size of droplets delivered, the carrier gas temperature profile at the reaction site, the solvent evaporation time, and the rate of film formation. The key modeling challenges addressed include incorporating the impact of uncertainties in parameters such as heat and mass transfer coefficients and reaction rate constants. Preliminary simulations demonstrate a proof of concept for the use of simulation for gaining insights into the feasibility of a process scale-up for an industrial-scale AACVD.