Microstructure Characterization of Al Nanoparticles Prepared by Anodic Arc Plasma

Abstract

In the protecting inert gas, Aluminum nanoparticles were successfully prepared by anodic arc discharge plasma method. The morphology, particle size, crystal microstructure and specific surface area of the particles by this process were characterized via X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller(BET) adsorption equation, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the corresponding selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The experimental results indicate that the crystal structure of the samples is face centered cubic (fcc) structure as same as the bulk materials, the particle size distribution ranging from 20 to 70 nm, with an average particle size about 44 nm obtained by TEM and confirmed by XRD and BET results. The specific surface area is 41 m2/g, the nanopowders distributed uniformly in spherical chain shapes with uniform size and monodisperse particles.