Scenario of carbon‐encapsulated particle synthesis by spark discharges in liquid hydrocarbons

Abstract

Discharges in liquid hydrocarbons produce submicrometric particles with a graphitic shell. In this study, discharges are generated between two Cu electrodes immersed in various liquid hydrocarbons, and the produced particles are characterized by various techniques. The obtained results indicate that the thickness of the particle shell increases with increasing particle size; for instance, it is ~4 nm for small particles (~25 nm) and ~30 nm for large particles (~1 µm). Such variation in shell thickness is attributed to variations in the thermal properties of different‐size particles. On the basis of qualitative analysis, we assume that shell growth is induced by local pyrolysis (or pyrolysis‐like process) of the liquid hydrocarbon due to the ejection of hot particles from the electrodes.

Statistical analysis of pulsed discharges in dielectric liquid: effects of voltage amplitude, pulse width, electrode configuration, and liquid composition

“…The process of electrical discharge in liquid involves many physical and chemical phenomena that occur at different time scales [12][13][14]. Technological advances in pulsed power sources, as well as in fast detection techniques, have recently allowed researchers to report a timeline of these phenomena [15].…”