Synthesis of Carbon Particles using Laser Ablation in Ethanol

Carbon particles were synthesized via laser ablation of a bulk graphite in ethanol medium using Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm. The target was irradiated by the laser beam with a pulse energy of 3 J, a pulse repetition rate of 2 Hz, and a pulse duration of 5 ms. Effect of using ethanol as a liquid medium for laser ablation on physical, chemical, and optical properties of resulted carbon particles was reported. SEM images presented that a flake-like morphology of graphite in the target has been transformed into a flower-like cluster after the ablation. Raman measurement showed that G peak position of the graphite flakes and that of the synthesized carbon particles were similar, about 1582 cm-1, whereas D peak position and its shape of the synthesized particles was different from those of graphite flakes. UV-visible and fluorescent spectrometers were used to investigate absorption and emission characteristics of the particles, respectively. The carbon particles can absorb a light in the UV range and emit a photoluminescence of bright blue-green color.