Iron Nanoparticle Production by the Method of Electric Explosion of Wire

Abstract

The widespread use of the iron nanopowders connected with widely range of characteristics such as size, magnetic characteristics and high surface area and that is why in the literature are present many researches of its different applications. The work studies the influence of the conditions of the iron wire electrical explosion on the course of the explosion process and the dispersed composition of the resulting metal nanopoweder. Experiments on electrical explosion of iron wires were carried out in the laboratory setup with the different initial conditions of electrical explosion of the iron wire. The influence of the initial wire electrical explosion conditions on the explosion regime, the specific energy input into the conductor, and the specific energy released in the arc stage of discharge are definitely determined. The empirical equations for calculation of the initial wire electrical explosion conditions for providing the critical explosion in the argon medium at a pressure of 2·105 Pa were defined. It has been established that for synthesis of iron nanopowders with a narrow particle size distribution, it is preferable to use modes with a high level of the energy released in the arc stage of the discharge. It was found that disabling the arc stage of the discharge during EEW leads to the decreasing of the average surface particle size by 50%.