Preparation of alumina nanoparticles by pulsed wire discharge in water

Abstract

Alumina nanoparticles were prepared by pulsed wire discharge (PWD) using aluminium wire in deionized water at relative energy of 2, which is the ratio of the charged energy of the capacitor and the vaporization energy of the wire. From voltage and current waveforms during PWD, calculated deposited energy of the wire was larger than the vaporization energy of the wire. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that the prepared Al2O3 nanoparticles were spherical particles with the median particle diameter of 103 nm and the geometric standard deviation of 2.3. The X-ray diffraction analyses indicated that the prepared nanoparticles were identified as γ-Al2O3. From these results, pure γ-Al2O3 with particle size of around 100 nm was successfully synthesized by PWD in water. © 2011 Ceramic Society of Japan.