Aluminum Nitride (AIN) has arised as a promising synthetic material, valued for its high thermal conductivity coupled with high electrical resistivity. These properties, associated with the fact that AIN is nontoxic and has thermal expansion characteristics which closely match those of silicon, makes it an excellent material for electronic packaging. Currently two commercial processes are primaly used for the manufacture of AIN powder, the direct nitridation of the metal, and the carbothermic reduction of the alumina in the presence of nitrogem.

In this work, nanosized aluminum nitride particles were synthesized from the phase using ammonia and aluminum chloride vapor as reactants. This system consists of a vaporization system, ammonia (NH3) distributor, tubular synthesis reactor and powder collection system. The aluminum chloride (AlCl3) vapor starts to react with ammonia injected in the synthesis reactor inlet position (mixing zone). The aluminum nitride nucleates and grows along the reactor length. The aluminum nitride powder produced was collected and chemically and physically characterized.