DC-plasma-assisted synthesis of diamond and alumina using liquid
Abstract A new approach was proposed for the DC-plasma-assisted ceramic synthesis using liquid as starting materials. The method consists of generating a plasma between the substrate (electrode) and the liquid phase. Plasma-assisted deposition above the liquid surface of a water-ethylene glycol solution yielded diamond on anode substrate under a constant applied voltage. The morphology and quality of diamond changed from mirror-ball particle with disordered graphite to high-quality film with prolonged deposition. Heating a cathode wire by discharge in an aqueous solution of aluminum nitrate produced α-alumina coatings without post-annealing under atmospheric pressure. Deposition stopped automatically when the whole wire in the solution was covered with alumina. The growth rate of the alumina coatings ranged 1–10 μm min −1 .