PLASMA AND CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF NONLINEAR CAVITATION EFFECTS

Abstract

This work examines the properties of zinc oxide nanoparticles obtained in plasma discharge under the influence of ultrasound and by the deposition method. It has been shown that special form of plasma discharge in a liquid in an intensive ultrasonic field above the cavitation threshold can be effectively used to produce zinc oxide nanoparticles. The resulting sample consists of individual particles or their small associates ranging from 30 to 60 nm in size and aggregates of these particles with a wide range of sizes. Additional exposure to ultrasound allows to obtain particles with average size of less than 20 nm. The deposition method produces larger hexagonal particles with a size of 40 nm and a length of up to 100 nm. This difference is explained by the shorter growth time of crystals in plasma discharge.