Jean-Luc Meunier

Research interests

Member of Plasma-Québec and coordinator of the Plasma-Québec/McGill team.

Plasma-Québec is an inter-university research center funded by FQRNT and joining plasma science and engineering research teams from Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, INRS-Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunication, McGill University, and governmental/institutional research centers and industries.

My research projects involve both thermal plasmas and low pressure arc-based plasma sources for the synthesis of new materials and the study of fundamental phenomena at plasma/surface and plasma/gas boundaries. Plasmas form the 4th state of matter (in order of increasing energy: solid, liquid, gas, plasmas), while "thermal plasmas" refer to a state of (almost) thermal equilibrium between the different species present such as electrons, ions, atoms and molecules. We currently study the design of reactors for the generation of nanometer-scale structures such as carbon nanotubes (CNT), nanoparticles made of carbon, metal or ceramic, and structured coatings such as diamond and diamondlike films, CNT-based composite coatings, polymer-CNT or polymer-metal composite coatings. These research projects are all targeted to specific application areas such as the energy sector (fuel cells, electron emission from surfaces, and supercapacitors), the environmental sector (water treatment), the biomedical sector (sensors) and the more general field of advanced materials.

Research Topics

• Carbon nanotube synthesis and applications using thermal and low pressure plasma devices or thermal chemical vapor deposition (th-CVD).
  
• Electric arc / surface interaction studies and electron emission enhancement.
  
• Functionalized carbon nanoparticles for fuel cells applications.
  
• Diamond and diamondlike films using inductively coupled plasmas and arc ion plating (AIP).
  
• Nanocomposite materials.
  

Projects

• Carbon nanotube synthesis using thermal plasmas (bulk synthesis) and thermal CVD (surface growth) / experimental and modeling studies on synthesis and nanocomposite structures.
• Thermal plasma based generation of functionalized carbon nanoparticles for enhanced catalytic activity in fuel cells.
• Study of the electric arc behavior in plasma torch devices.
• Fundamental studies on electric arc / surface interaction on cold cathodes
• Development of new avenues for electron emission from surfaces, and design of surfaces showing strong emission enhancement.
• Development of arc ion plating (AIP, an arc-based physical vapor deposition (a-PVD) process) sources and techniques for ceramic, nanocomposite, and diamondlike film production.
• Doped diamond film growth using RF inductively coupled plasma (ICP).

Specialized laboratory facilities

Plasma Québec/McGill has five laboratories with total area of 320 m2 including some high headroom space. Some of the specialized equipment and infrastructure include:

• Installed power 150 kW for DC plasma systems used for a) a PyroGenesis DC plasma torch (100 kW nominal) and reactor installation, b) transferred arc systems, and c) a rotating arc experimental system.
• A Tekna Inductively coupled thermal plasma system (TP-ICP) with two ICP plasma torch outlets and reactors (35 kW and 60 kW)
• An IonBond PVD 350 deposition system comprising a vacuum chamber (2.24 m3) with a planetary system for sample support and a possibility of six (6) AIP plasma sources.
• A series of lasers, vacuum chambers, plasma chambers and power supplies (pulsed arcs and RF capacitively coupled plasmas), and thermal CVD ovens for fundamental studies and applications in plasma and materials research.
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• Research group

  
  

  Ongoing projects:

  • Carole Baddour, Ph.D. Project: Thermal-CVD growth of carbon nanotubes on metal surfaces without added catalyst, and a-PVD generation of a nano-composite coating for electron emission enhancement.
  • Martin Dionne, Ph.D. Project: Modeling of the electron emission process from carbon nanotube (CNT) covered surfaces, and fabrication of a nanotemplate growth surface for an optimal CNT coverage geometry.
  • Ramona Pristavita-Turcu, Ph.D. Project : Thermal plasma synthesis of functionalized carbon nanoparticles for catalytic applications as Pt replacement in fuel cells.
  • Leron Vandsburger, M.Eng. Project: Th-CVD synthesis of carbon nanotube and plasma functionalization for nanofluids applications.
  • Norma Mendoza, Post-doc Project: Modeling and design of a high enthalpy thermal plasma torch.
  • And between 2-7 undergraduate students working on summer projects. For summer 2009: Larissa Jorge, Pierre-Alexandre Pascone, David Upham, James J. Pasieka, Geoffrey Morier, Sebastien Valla. The research group is completed with the team of Profs. S. Coulombe and R.J. Munz in the Plasma-Québec/McGill laboratories.
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Students graduated from my research team:

• Liping Guo, Ph.D. (2008), Modeling of a supersonic DC plasma torch system for carbon nanotube production.
• Amir Azem, M.Eng. (2008), Growth of nitrogen doped diamond using inductively coupled thermal plasma CVD.
• Faysal Fadlallah, M.Eng. (2007), Preparation of metal-carbon nanotube composite powders for thermal plasma spraying applications.
• Deniz Nasuhoglu, M.Eng. (2007), Synthesis of carbon nanotubes on metallic grids for applications in electrochemical capacitors.
• Gui-Ping Dai, Post-doc. (2007), CNT synthesis using a thermal plasma process.
• Naveen K. Reddy, M.Eng. (2006), Study of growth of carbon nanotubes on pure metal and metal alloy electrodes.
• François Roy, M.Sc. (2006), Modification de l’émissivité électronique du cuivre par implantation ionique par source plasma (IISP); thèse effectuée à l’INRS-Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications.
• Nadine ElMallah, M.Eng. (2006), Vacuum arc based ablation of copper cathodes covered by carbon nanotubes for nano-composite coating applications.
• Ivaylo Hinkov, Post-doc. (2006), CNT synthesis using inductively coupled plasmas.
• David Harbec, Ph.D. (2006), Producing carbon nanotubes using the technology of DC thermal plasma torch.
• Bilal Shaw, M.Eng. (2004), Study of fullerene content from CNT thermal plasma reactor based on the dissociation of C2Cl4.
• Amna Tariq, M.Eng. (2004), Design and implementation of a plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) system for the study of fullerene-polymer composite thin films and surface functionalization effects on fullerenes.
• Wasseem Khoury, M.Eng. (2002), Substrate bias assisted RF thermal plasma for boron-doped diamond deposition.
• David Harbec, M.Eng. (2001), Effect of the cylindrical reactor length on the fullerene synthesis based on the thermal plasma dissociation of C2Cl4.
• Jorg Oberste-Berghaus, Ph.D. (2001), Substrate bias assisted RF thermal plasma diamond deposition.
• Karen Sum, M.Eng. (1999), Fullerene study from the vaporization of graphite in a thermal plasma jet.
• Sylvain Coulombe, P.D. (1997), A model of the electric arc attachment on non-refractory (cold) cathodes.
• Theodora Alexakis, Ph.D. (1997), The production of fullerenes via the thermal plasma dissociation of C2Cl4.
• Munther Kandah, Ph.D. (1997), Particles emission control at graphite cathode in arc ion plating deposition.
• Jean-François Bilodeau, Post-doc. (1996), Modeling the fluid and temperature fields in a thermal plasma fullerene synthesis reactor.
• Jorg Oberste-Berghaus, M.Eng. (1996), Induction plasma deposition of diamond thin films.
• George Kin, Ph.D. (1995), The effects of low pressure nitrogen on titanium cathode sources in titanium nitride arc ion plating.
• Platon Manoliadis, M.Eng. (1995), Purification of buckminsterfullerenes by thin film fractional sublimation.
• Munther I. Kandah, M.Eng. (1993), Droplet generation mechanisms by graphite cathodes in the vacuum arc deposition technique.
• Nicolas Desaulniers-Soucy, M.Sc. (1992), Étude spectroscopique des vapeurs de cuivre d’un arc en rotation dans l’argon contaminé.
• Mario Douyon de Azevedo, M.Eng. (1990), Étude du dépôt par arc dans le vide de couches minces de carbone sous pression réduite d’hydrogène.