Fabrication of Nanoparticles by Electric Discharge Plasma in Liquid

Abstract

The electric plasma discharge method involves the application of a voltage between a cathode and anode in a conductive electrolytic solution to create a discharge plasma at the cathode. When certain material is used as the cathode, small droplets are emitted with the plasma discharge, and the melted droplets are rapidly cooled in the solution to form nanoscale particles of the material. In this work, nanoparticles of Al, Au, Si, and various alloys of between 100 nm and less than 10 nm in size were produced and characterized. Characterization of Si nanoparticles is especially important because their use in lithium batteries greatly influences battery performance. It was found by high resolution electron microscopy and microstructural surface analysis that oxidation layers of a few nm in thickness were formed on the surface of the Si nanoparticles.