Nanosecond-pulsed spark discharge plasma in liquid nitrogen: synthesis of polynitrogen from NaN₃

Abstract

Nanosecond-pulsed plasma ignited in liquid nitrogen is a unique tool for the synthesis of unconventional materials due to a combination of energetic properties of the discharge itself (high densities of reactive species, pressures and radiation) with the low temperature of the surrounding dense liquid. Here, we report on applications of such plasma for synthesis of a polymeric nitrogen compound, preliminarily identified as neutral or ionic N 6 , from sodium azide precursors.

Polynitrogen High Energy Density Materials Synthesized by Nonequilibrium Plasma

“…The preliminary avant garde results on the synthesis of polynitrogen compounds using plasmas operating very far from local equilibrium are encouraging. Dobrynin et al have published a series of papers in which they generated nanosecond pulsed plasmas in liquid nitrogen near ambient pressure. − A dark solid product was formed from this plasma reaction (Figure ), which exhibited some metastability at very low temperatures near the liquid nitrogen boiling point. Upon heating to ambient temperature, this material exploded leaving no residue .…”

“…Upon heating to ambient temperature, this material exploded leaving no residue. 33 In a follow-up work, 32 the team added sodium azide to the liquid nitrogen, which settled out of the bottom of the reaction vessel, but was nevertheless modified by the plasma treatment. After treatment, the solid residue exhibited features in vibrational spectroscopy consistent with N 6 materials.…”

“…Ga 2 O 3 by controlling the interaction of the material with the plasma during synthesis. , Since plasmas can produce a chemically reactive environment at low temperature involving the excitation of N 2 gas and are capable of synthesizing, under vacuum, phases that are usually only observed at high pressure, plasmas are therefore attractive for the synthesis of polynitrogen HEDMs. Indeed, there have already been some early movers in the area, and promising results have been obtained. − The field remains very much open, and breakthroughs surely await therein.…”

Phenomenological Studies for Optimizing Subsonic Underwater Discharges

“…which the phenomenological model is constructed, the term RSD will be considered as a time constant. In (18), as the circuit selfinductance L is of the order of 4 µH, the very small selfinductance (of the order of a few nH) of the inter-electrode plasma LSD can be neglected i.e., as L>>LSD it follows that L+LSD≈L.…”

Synthesis of Highly Energetic PolyNitrogen by Nanosecond-Pulsed Plasma in Liquid Nitrogen

“…In our recent studies, we have employed nanosecond-pulsed plasmas ignited in liquid nitrogen as a tool for production and fast quenching of nitrogen-rich materials [ 8 , 9 ]. Liquid nitrogen plasmas, with their relatively high energies, pressures, radiation, and the high densities of reactive species, are suggested to be an effective way to synthesize new materials [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”