Nanoparticle Production by Spark Ablation: Principle, Configurations, and Basic Steps toward Application

This chapter discusses the basic configurations of the spark discharge generator (SDG). It describes SDG devices that are offered on the market. The chapter also describes the options aerosol technology offers to modify the produced particles while they are in gas suspension. The basic features of spark ablation are elucidated, focusing on sizes below 20 nm, and it is shown how particle size distribution can be predicted as a function of the SDG operating parameters. Restriction to short sparks serves two important purposes, namely the production of particles smaller than ca. 20 nm in diameter and the ability of producing internally mixed particles, the composition of which is well defined, as it is the composition of the electrodes. Better flushing of the spark gaps combined with a large series resistance reduces the spark-to-spark variation, but the large series resistance introduces a significant energy loss and waste heat.