Simple one-step synthesis of carbon nanoparticles from aliphatic alcohols and n-hexane by stable solution plasma process

This paper examines a simple one-step and catalyst-free method for synthesizing carbon nanoparticles from aliphatic alcohols and n-hexane with linear molecule formations by using a stable solution plasma process with a bipolar pulse and an external resistor. When the external resistor is adopted, it is observed that the current spikes are dramatically decreased, which induced production of a more stable discharge. Six aliphatic linear alcohols (methanol-hexanol) containing carbon with oxygen sources are studied as possible precursors for the massive production of carbon nanoparticles. Additional study is also carried out with the use of n-hexane containing many carbons without an oxygen source in order to enhance the formation of carbon nanoparticles and to eliminate unwanted oxygen effects. The obtained carbon nanoparticles are characterized with field emission-scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that with increasing carbon ratios in alcohol content, the synthesis rate of carbon nanoparticles is increased, whereas the size of the carbon nanoparticles is decreased. Moreover, the degree of graphitization of the carbon nanoparticles synthesized from 1-hexanol and n-hexane with a high carbon (C)/oxygen (O) ratio and low or no oxygen is observed to be greater than that of the carbon nanoparticles synthesized from the corresponding materials with a low C/O ratio.