Self-organized patterns by a DC pin liquid anode discharge in ambient air: Effect of liquid types on formation

Abstract: A pin liquid anode DC discharge is generated in open air without any additional gas feeding to form self-organized patterns (SOPs) on various liquid interfaces. Axially resolved emission spectra of the whole discharge reveal that the self-organized patterns are formed below a dark region and are visible mainly due to the N2 transitions. The high energy N2 (C) level is mainly excited by the impact of electrons heated by the local increased electric field at the interface. For the first time, the effect of the liquid type on the SOP formation is presented. With almost the same other discharge conditions, the formed SOPs are significantly different from HCl and H2SO4 liquid anodes. The SOP difference is repeated when the discharge current and gap distance change for both liquid anodes. The variations of SOP size and discretization as a function of discharge current and gap distance are discussed and confirm that different SOPs are formed by the HCl liquid anode from tap water or the H2SO4 liquid anode. A possible explanation is brought up to explain the dependence of SOPs on the liquid type.