Synthesis of carbon-based materials by methane pyrolysis in a low-current gliding arc discharge

IF 6.1 2区材料科学 Q1 MATERIALS SCIENCE, COATINGS & FILMS Surface & Coatings Technology Pub Date : 2025-03-20 DOI:10.1016/j.surfcoat.2025.132063

Yuan Tian , Assan Abdirakhmanov , Xiaoyu Wang , Pierre Mathieu , Luis Flores-Larrea , Maureen J. Lagos , Nathalie De Geyter , Carla Bittencourt , Rony Snyders

{"title":"Synthesis of carbon-based materials by methane pyrolysis in a low-current gliding arc discharge","authors":"Yuan Tian , Assan Abdirakhmanov , Xiaoyu Wang , Pierre Mathieu , Luis Flores-Larrea , Maureen J. Lagos , Nathalie De Geyter , Carla Bittencourt , Rony Snyders","doi":"10.1016/j.surfcoat.2025.132063","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, a low-current (25–75 mA) gliding arc discharge (GAD) system was utilized for the synthesis of carbon-based materials. We investigated the effects of discharge current (I) and methane concentration (Φ<sub>CH4</sub>) on the discharge features and the carbon materials properties.</div><div>We observed a strong influence of the discharge current on the discharge behavior. For the lowest I value (<em>I</em> = 25 mA), the plasma is confined and emits blue light. In this condition, no carbon formation is observed (whatever Φ<sub>CH4</sub> is), revealing a too low associated discharge power (P<sub>D</sub>) to allow for a significant dissociation of CH<sub>4</sub>. When increasing I, the plasma features are strongly affected with the appearance of a yellow flame, associated with the production of incipient soot, expanding as a function of I. In these conditions, carbon is always generated. We observed that a high enough discharge current (<em>I</em> = 75 mA) is necessary to allow for a stable plasma in the entire Φ<sub>CH4</sub> range.</div><div>Characterization of carbon products reveals the formation of two distinct types of carbon nanomaterials: graphene nanoflakes (GNFs), including single-layer, bilayer, and multilayer structures, predominantly synthesized at Φ<sub>CH4</sub> = 10 %, and carbon nanoparticles (CNPs), primarily generated at higher Φ<sub>CH4</sub>. For multilayer GNFs, two morphologies—“flat platelet” and “wrinkled layer”—were identified through Annular Dark-Field Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (ADF-STEM) images. For CNPs, a comparative thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) study with commercial carbon blacks (CBs) reveals that the thermal stability and purity of CNPs improves with increasing P<sub>D</sub>, shifting their properties closer to those of CBs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22009,"journal":{"name":"Surface & Coatings Technology","volume":"505 ","pages":"Article 132063"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Surface & Coatings Technology","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0257897225003378","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MATERIALS SCIENCE, COATINGS & FILMS","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

In this study, a low-current (25–75 mA) gliding arc discharge (GAD) system was utilized for the synthesis of carbon-based materials. We investigated the effects of discharge current (I) and methane concentration (Φ_CH4) on the discharge features and the carbon materials properties.

We observed a strong influence of the discharge current on the discharge behavior. For the lowest I value (I = 25 mA), the plasma is confined and emits blue light. In this condition, no carbon formation is observed (whatever Φ_CH4 is), revealing a too low associated discharge power (P_D) to allow for a significant dissociation of CH₄. When increasing I, the plasma features are strongly affected with the appearance of a yellow flame, associated with the production of incipient soot, expanding as a function of I. In these conditions, carbon is always generated. We observed that a high enough discharge current (I = 75 mA) is necessary to allow for a stable plasma in the entire Φ_CH4 range.

Characterization of carbon products reveals the formation of two distinct types of carbon nanomaterials: graphene nanoflakes (GNFs), including single-layer, bilayer, and multilayer structures, predominantly synthesized at Φ_CH4 = 10 %, and carbon nanoparticles (CNPs), primarily generated at higher Φ_CH4. For multilayer GNFs, two morphologies—“flat platelet” and “wrinkled layer”—were identified through Annular Dark-Field Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (ADF-STEM) images. For CNPs, a comparative thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) study with commercial carbon blacks (CBs) reveals that the thermal stability and purity of CNPs improves with increasing P_D, shifting their properties closer to those of CBs.

查看原文

微信好友朋友圈 QQ好友复制链接

本刊更多论文

低电流滑动电弧放电甲烷热解合成碳基材料

本研究利用低电流（25-75 mA）滑动电弧放电（GAD）系统合成了碳基材料。研究了放电电流(I)和甲烷浓度（ΦCH4）对放电特性和碳材料性能的影响。我们观察到放电电流对放电行为有很强的影响。对于最低I值（I = 25 mA），等离子体受到限制并发出蓝光。在这种情况下，没有观察到碳的形成（无论ΦCH4是什么），表明相关放电功率（PD）过低，无法允许CH4的显著解离。当增加I时，等离子体的特征受到黄色火焰的强烈影响，黄色火焰与初期烟灰的产生有关，作为I的函数而膨胀。在这些条件下，总是会产生碳。我们观察到，一个足够高的放电电流（I = 75 mA）是必要的，以允许稳定的等离子体在整个ΦCH4范围。碳产品的表征揭示了两种不同类型的碳纳米材料的形成：石墨烯纳米片（GNFs），包括单层、双层和多层结构，主要在ΦCH4 = 10%的条件下合成；碳纳米颗粒（CNPs），主要在ΦCH4 = 10%的条件下生成。对于多层GNFs，通过环形暗场扫描透射电子显微镜（ADF-STEM）图像确定了两种形态-“扁平血小板”和“褶皱层”。对于CNPs，用商业炭黑（CBs）进行的热重分析（TGA）和衍生热重分析（DTG）研究表明，CNPs的热稳定性和纯度随着PD的增加而提高，其性能更接近于CBs。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文去求助

来源期刊

Surface & Coatings Technology 工程技术-材料科学：膜

CiteScore

10.00

自引率

11.10%

发文量

921

审稿时长

19 days

期刊介绍： Surface and Coatings Technology is an international archival journal publishing scientific papers on significant developments in surface and interface engineering to modify and improve the surface properties of materials for protection in demanding contact conditions or aggressive environments, or for enhanced functional performance. Contributions range from original scientific articles concerned with fundamental and applied aspects of research or direct applications of metallic, inorganic, organic and composite coatings, to invited reviews of current technology in specific areas. Papers submitted to this journal are expected to be in line with the following aspects in processes, and properties/performance: A. Processes: Physical and chemical vapour deposition techniques, thermal and plasma spraying, surface modification by directed energy techniques such as ion, electron and laser beams, thermo-chemical treatment, wet chemical and electrochemical processes such as plating, sol-gel coating, anodization, plasma electrolytic oxidation, etc., but excluding painting. B. Properties/performance: friction performance, wear resistance (e.g., abrasion, erosion, fretting, etc), corrosion and oxidation resistance, thermal protection, diffusion resistance, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, and properties relevant to smart materials behaviour and enhanced multifunctional performance for environmental, energy and medical applications, but excluding device aspects.