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Abstract This study delves into the dynamics of cold atmospheric plasma and their interaction within conductive solutions under the unique conditions of nanosecond pulsed discharges (22 kV peak voltage, 10 ns FWHM, 4.5 kV ns−1rate-of-rise). The research focuses on the electrical response, breakdown, and discharge propagation in an argon bubble, submerged in a NaCl solution of varying conductivity. Full or partial discharges were observed at conductivities of 1.5µS cm−1(deionized water) to 1.6 mS cm−1, but no breakdown was observed at 11.0 mS cm−1when reducing the electrode gap. It is demonstrated that at higher conductivity electric breakdown is observed only when the gas bubble comes into direct contact with the electrode and multiple emission nodes were observed at different timescales. These nodes expanded in the central region of the bubble over timescales longer than the initial high-voltage pulse. This work offers a temporal resolution of 2 ns exposure times over the first 30 ns of the initial voltage pulse, and insight into plasma formation over decaying reflected voltage oscillations over 200 ns.
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Measuring gas discharge in contact electrification
Abstract Contact electrification in a gas medium is usually followed by partial surface charge dissipation caused by dielectric breakdown of the gas triggered during separation of the surfaces. It is widely assumed that such discharge obeys the classical Paschen’s law, which describes the general dependence of the breakdown voltage on the product of gas pressure and gap distance. However, quantification of this relationship in contact electrification involving insulators is impeded by challenges in nondestructive in situ measurement of the gap voltage. The present work implements an electrode-free strategy for capturing discrete discharge events by monitoring the gap voltage via Coulomb force, providing experimental evidence of Paschen curves governing nitrogen breakdown in silicone-acrylic and copper-nylon contact electrification. It offers an alternative approach for characterizing either the ionization energies of gases or the secondary-electron-emission properties of surfaces without the requirement of a power supply, which can potentially benefit applications ranging from the design of insulative materials to the development of triboelectric sensors and generators.
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- PAR ID:
- 10478399
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Volume:
- 14
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2041-1723
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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