How and why electrostatic charge of combustible nanoparticles can radically change the mechanism and rate of their oxidation in humid atmosphere

TL;DR

This paper explores how electrostatic charge on combustible nanoparticles dramatically alters their oxidation mechanisms in humid air, leading to enhanced reactivity, formation of nanobatteries, and potential applications in nanotechnology and ball lightning phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a novel understanding of electrostatic effects on nanoparticle oxidation and proposes mechanisms for nanoparticle-based nanobatteries and ball lightning formation.

Findings

Electrostatic attraction accelerates water vapor molecules towards charged nanoparticles by up to a million times.

Charged nanoparticles can transform oxide shells into hydroxide-based electrolytes, creating nanobatteries.

Nanoparticle clouds can generate RF signals through synchronized breakdowns, resembling ball lightning.

Abstract

Electrostatically charged aerosol nanoparticles strongly attract surrounding polar gas molecules due to a charge-dipole interaction. In humid air, the substantial electrostatic attraction and acceleration of surrounding water vapour molecules towards charged combustible nanoparticles cause intense electrostatic hydration and preferential oxidation of these nanoparticles by accelerated water vapor molecules rather than non-polar oxygen molecules. In particular, electrostatic acceleration, acquired by surrounding water vapour molecules at a distance of their mean free path from the minimally charged iron metal nanoparticle can increase an oxidative activity of these polar molecules with respect to the nanoparticle by a factor of one million. Intense electrostatic hydration of charged metal nanoparticles converts the nanoparticle's oxide based shells into the hydroxide based electrolyte shells, transforming these nanoparticles into metal/air core-shell nanobatteries, periodically short-circuited by intra-particle field and thermionic electron emission. Partially synchronized breakdowns within trillions of nanoparticles-nanobatteries turn a cloud of charged nanoparticles-nanobatteries - ball lightning - into a powerful radio-frequency aerosol generator. Electrostatic hydration and charge-catalyzed oxidation of charged combustible nanoparticles also contribute to a self-oscillating thermocycling process of evolution and periodic auto-ignition of inflammable gases near to the nanoparticle's surface. The described effects might be of interest for the improvement of certain nanotechnological processes and to better understand ball lightning phenomenon.