Energy efficiency of N2 vibrational excitation in the spark-and-glow phases of a long-pulse air discharge at atmospheric pressure

Abstract

Abstract The vibrational excitation of N2 molecules has a significant impact on plasma chemical synthesis, including nitrogen fixation and ammonia formation, by reducing the energy barrier of chemical reactions. However, experimental data for energy efficiency of N2 vibrational excitation is very rare. In this work, vibrational coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering was applied to a 200 μs long-pulse air plasma, and the time behaviours of rotational and vibrational temperatures of N2 in two different discharge modes, namely the spark and glow modes in the long discharge pulse, were quantified. It reveals that the spark discharge produced a vibrational temperature exceeding 5000 K but with a gas temperature as low as 400 K, while the glow discharge resulted in efficient gas heating with a gas temperature as high as 3500 K and a vibrational temperature higher than 5000 K. Combined with the 0D simulation of the air plasma, it demonstrates that the energy efficiency of N2 vibrational excitation in the glow phase is about three times higher than that of the spark phase. These results provide essential inspiration for further studies of plasma chemical synthesis dominated by N2 vibrational excitation.