Effect of energy deposition rate on plasma expansion characteristics and nanoparticle generation by electrical explosion of conductors

The process of electrical explosion of metal conductors has been used to produce nano particles under normal atmospheric conditions. The impact of average rate of energy deposition, overheat factor on size distribution of particles and expansion characteristics of plasma generated from exploding conductors have been experimentally investigated. The particle size was characterized by TEM and XRD while expansion rate was measured using streak photography.The geometric mean diameter of size distribution was found to be influenced by rate of energy deposition in the conductors. It is observed that higher the rate of energy deposition, higher will be the expansion velocity, and smaller will be the size of particles formed.