Formation of nanodiamond by pulsed discharge of carbon fiber wires

High-crystalline nanodiamond powder was formed during pulsed discharge of carbon fiber wires in distilled water at room temperature. The copper-foil-encapsulated carbon fiber wires were also exploded to generate converging shockwaves with a higher pressure for the formation of nanodiamond. The recovered samples were characterized to be well crystallized nanodiamond with a quasi-spherical shape and a size of 3–10 nm mostly. The possible mechanism that governs the formation of nanodiamond (ND) was illustrated. Furthermore, the results show that a high input energy density of pulsed wire discharge is critical to the ND formation. The increase in the charge voltage and application of copper-foil pipe can improve the yields of ND up to 20%. This work provides an innovative route to synthesize ND through the pulsed wire discharge method and is conducive to the investigation and applications of extreme conditions induced by pulsed discharge.