Thermodynamic Simulation and Experimental Investigation of Plasma Preparation of Nanosized Carbon Using Propane

Carbon black was prepared by pyrolysis of propane under different plasma conditions. The effects of the flow ratio of the carbon precursor, discharge current, and plasma gases (including argon, nitrogen, and hydrogen) on the morphology and structure of carbon black were investigated by a series of physical characterizations. The equilibrium components were computed based on the minimization of the Gibbs free energy. The theoretical analysis and experimental results confirmed that HCN is the inevitable byproduct in the tail gas from the nitrogen plasma process, indicating that nitrogen is inappropriate as the carrier gas for the preparation of carbon black. The effects of discharging current, discharging spacing, and proportions of propane were also symmetrically studied by the evaluation of HCN concentration. Moreover, the graphene was generated when using argon as the plasma gas mixed with a small amount of hydrogen.