Experimental study of corona discharge with multi-walled carbon nanotubes electrode

Corona discharges with metal electrodes have been extensively studied both experimentally and theoretically, but the discharges on carbon nanotubes electrodes have not been reported. An experimental study of corona discharge on aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes electrode at atmospheric pressure was made in this paper. The fabrication of aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)electrode and measuring system of corona discharge were presented. The breakdown voltage and corona pulses on nanotubes electrode were discussed as compared with aluminum electrodes. It was found that the breakdown voltage reduced largely by using nanotubes electrode, and the repetition rate of nanotube pulses was much higher than that of metal pulses. The mechanisms of positive and negative corona pulse and the field emission of carbon nanotubes were all also discussed in detail. The experimental results showed that the positive corona has a more steady current before breakdown and more regular pulse after breakdown compared with negative corona, so the MWCNTs anode would be used in the carbon nanotubes gas sensor.