Spectroscopic characterization of electrical discharge plasma in liquids used for nanoparticles fabrication

Optical emission spectroscopy technique has been developed and applied to evaluate parameters of the electrical discharge plasma in liquid. The electron temperature and density have been obtained for the arc and spark discharges in water and ethanol. The electron density was obtained from the Stark width of the Hα hydrogen line and copper CuI 515.3 and CuI 521.8 nm lines. The electron temperature was estimated from the Boltzmann plot for relative line intensities of copper atomic lines. Physical and chemical processes induced by the electrical discharges in liquids have been analyzed to optimize the process of nanoparticles synthesis.