Bipolar diffusion charging characteristics of single-wall carbon nanotube aerosol particles

Bipolar diffusion charging characteristics of airborne single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) agglomerates were investigated in the mobility diameter range of 100–1000 nm. Neutral fractions of three types of SWCNT aerosols following bipolar charge equilibrium in a radioactive source were experimentally measured to infer their electrical charging characteristics. Significant deviation from Boltzmann and Fuchs stationary charge equilibrium was observed, with neutral fractions of SWCNT particles lower by 30–53% compared to that of spherical particles of the same mobility. Particles with mobility diameter larger than 400 nm showed high electrical charging efficiencies compared to that of mobility-equivalent spherical particles. Higher charging efficiencies of SWCNT particles were attributed to their higher electrical capacitance resulting from complex nonspherical morphologies. Numerical calculations using idealized fiber geometries confirmed the qualitative trend in the experimental data. The electrical capacitance of nanotubes particles deduced from experimentally measured neutral fractions were also found to be higher by a factor ranging from 1.6 to 4.6 compared to that of mobility-equivalent spherical particles, indicating high charge carrying capacity. The charging-equivalent diameters of nanotube particles were computed and were found to be higher than their mobility diameter by a factor of 2.85–4.34.