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Graphitization of Carbon Particles in a Non-thermal Plasma Reactor

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Abstract

The production of nanomaterials using non-thermal plasmas remains the focus of ongoing investigations due to advantageous properties of this class of processes, most notably the intense plasma-induced heating arising from energetic recombination events occurring at the surface of nanoparticles, which allows for the tailored synthesis of crystalline nanoparticles. In this work, the authors discuss an in situ, in-flight Fourier Transform Infrared absorption spectroscopy technique to investigate the temperature variation of carbon nanoparticles during their synthesis in an acetylene–argon–hydrogen non-thermal RF plasma. Based on the FTIR measurements, decreasing hydrogenation levels and the progressive onset of an incandescence signal were observed at increasing RF input power. In the high RF power region, the carbon particle temperature, derived by fitting the corresponding FTIR spectra with a modified Planck’s law, shows values above 2000 K. The corresponding ex situ characterization of the synthesized materials by Transmission Electron Microscopy and Raman Spectroscopy displays the production of highly graphitic particles and loss of bonded hydrogen from the material, hence supporting the substantial nanoparticle heating derived from the FTIR measurements.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Early Career Research Program under Award No. DESC0014169.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Austin Woodard & Lorenzo Mangolini

  2. Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Kamran Shojaei, Giorgio Nava & Lorenzo Mangolini

Authors
  1. Austin Woodard
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  2. Kamran Shojaei
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  3. Giorgio Nava
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  4. Lorenzo Mangolini
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Correspondence to Lorenzo Mangolini.

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Woodard, A., Shojaei, K., Nava, G. et al. Graphitization of Carbon Particles in a Non-thermal Plasma Reactor. Plasma Chem Plasma Process 38, 683–694 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-018-9884-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-018-9884-4

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