US Patent 7998449 - CNT production via cavitation

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7998449.html

Cavitation is a process involving the implosion of bubbles in a liquid which produces a pressure wave and is used in such devices as thermal inkjet printers (e.g. Canon's "bubblejet"). This patent by Heiko Ackermann teaches a way that cavitation can be used in the fabrication of nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method comprising generating cavitation in a fluid through vertical oscillations of the fluid to produce nanoparticles.