Energy efficiency in nanoscale synthesis using nanosecond plasmas

We report a nanoscale synthesis technique using nanosecond-duration plasma discharges. Voltage pulses 12.5 kV in amplitude and 40 ns in duration were applied repetitively at 30 kHz across molybdenum electrodes in open ambient air, generating a nanosecond spark discharge that synthesized well-defined...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2013-02, Vol.3 (1), p.1221-1221, Article 1221
Main Authors: Pai, David Z., (Ken) Ostrikov, Kostya, Kumar, Shailesh, Lacoste, Deanna A., Levchenko, Igor, Laux, Christophe O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301
639/925
639/925/357/537
639/925/357/551
Atmospheric pressure
Catalysts
Energy efficiency
Engineering Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Molybdenum
multidisciplinary
Plasma
Plasmas
Polyamides
Science
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We report a nanoscale synthesis technique using nanosecond-duration plasma discharges. Voltage pulses 12.5 kV in amplitude and 40 ns in duration were applied repetitively at 30 kHz across molybdenum electrodes in open ambient air, generating a nanosecond spark discharge that synthesized well-defined MoO 3 nanoscale architectures (i.e. flakes, dots, walls, porous networks) upon polyamide and copper substrates. No nitrides were formed. The energy cost was as low as 75 eV per atom incorporated into a nanostructure, suggesting a dramatic reduction compared to other techniques using atmospheric pressure plasmas. These findings show that highly efficient synthesis at atmospheric pressure without catalysts or external substrate heating can be achieved in a simple fashion using nanosecond discharges.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep01221