金属粒子の扁平化工程のスケールアップ方法を開発 ―量産化コスト削減に期待―

2026-04-01 東北大学

東北大学とDOWAエレクトロニクスの研究チームは、銀粒子の扁平化工程におけるスケールアップ手法を開発した。ボールミルを用いた加工において、離散要素法(DEM)シミュレーションと小型装置の実験結果を組み合わせることで、大型装置での粒子挙動や扁平化結果を高精度に予測可能とした。これにより従来必要だった大規模な試行錯誤を削減し、実験工数とコストの大幅な低減を実現する。導電性ペースト用フレーク状銀粒子の効率的量産が可能となり、太陽電池や電子部品分野での材料開発と製造プロセスの高度化に貢献する成果である。

金属粒子の扁平化工程のスケールアップ方法を開発 ―量産化コスト削減に期待―
図1. 銀粒子の扁平化工程における粒子形状の変化の例

<関連情報>

DEMシミュレーションによる乾式ボールミルを用いた銀粒子の平坦化のスケールアップ A scaling up of flattening silver particles using dry ball milling by DEM simulation

Takuya Kojima,Kizuku Kushimoto,Daisuke Oka,Yutaka Hisaeda & Junya Kano
Scientific Reports  Published:18 March 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44107-1  Unedited version

Abstract

The rising demand for silver flakes, such as those used on solar cell electrodes, requires reliable scaling up of flattening silver particles. For this purpose, it was confirmed the applicability of the specific impact energy (Ew) calculated from the discrete element method (DEM) simulation to the scale-up of flattening silver particles. The normalized specific surface area (SSA) at arbitrary flattening times at large scales was predicted by the flattening rate constant (Kf) at small scales and Ew . Silver particles were flattened in experiments using dry vibration mills of two different sizes under various conditions. Kf  was obtained through the increase in the normalized SSA during the flattening process. The simulations modeled the motion of the balls within the mills using DEM, and Ew was calculated from the ball-ball and ball-wall collisions. To validate the scale-up, the predicted and experimental values of the normalized SSA at large scales were compared. A comparative analysis of prediction accuracy using various components of Ew (normal, shear, and their total) was conducted. The results showed that the normal component of Ew had the highest prediction accuracy. These findings suggest that the normal component of can be utilized to the scale-up of flattening processes.

0107工場自動化及び産業機械
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