Pulsed electric discharges in water and oxide nanoparticles

By means of the apparatus for pulsed electrodischarge treatment of water the dispersions of oxide and metal nanoparticles were manufactured. The sizes of nanoparticles and their distribution in size were measured by laser correlation spectrometer of quasi-elastic light dispersion LCS-03. Sizes of the nanoparticles ranged from 2 to 1000 nm. To produce the dispersions we used the electrodes of silver, copper, platinum, and iron. The distributions of the nanoparticles’ subfractions in sizes as a function of the pulse duration (0.1.27 μs), velocity of water flow in the discharge chamber (1–3 cm/s) and the dependences of the metal electrodes specific erosion and specific surface electric charge of nanoparticles on pulse duration were determined. It was found also that at duration of the pulse from 5 to 10 μs there is optimum ratio of those three above parameters, i.e. high specific erosion of electrodes of 2 mg/C at dominant output of nanoparticles with dimension ≤ 100 nm and rather high surface electric charge, which most destructively effect onto bacteria and spores and most active in other biological processes.