OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CARBON NANOPARTICLES PRODUCED IN LAMINAR PREMIXED FLAMES

Carbon particulate matter derived from combustion consists of a variety of organic compounds, which often present features similar to carbon-based materials used in several brand new technologies. This consideration has recently provided the inspiration to check out the possible applications of these products in the field of material science and engineering. In this study, combustion-formed carbonaceous materials were collected from three different fuel-rich laminar premixed flames of ethylene and air, in order to characterize and correlate both the optical and the electrical properties. Physical and chemical properties of the particle have been tailored by changing the flame parameters, such as the fuel/air ratio, the particle residence time, and the sampling procedure, in order to produce particles with broadly different characteristics. We used Raman spectroscopy to characterize particle composition, and medium range order of carbonaceous particles sampled from the flame. UV-visible absorption spectroscopy was used to calculate the optical band-gap of the material by reporting the optical spectra in the form of Tauc plot. The electrical characterization was then performed by measuring I-V characteristics, i.e. current vs. voltage plots. Finally, a theoretical model based on tunneling effect has been checked for understanding the electrical conduction phenomenon through a thin film of carbonaceous nanoparticles.