• News item 149

Preprint 263 published

12 November 2020
News picture

Preprint 263, ''Carbonaceous nanoparticle formation in flames'', has been published!

Abstract

The route by which gas-phase molecules in hydrocarbon flames form solid carbonaceous nanoparticles is reviewed. These products of incomplete combustion are introduced as particulates and materials revealing both their useful applications and unwanted impacts as pollutants. Significant advances in experimental techniques in the last decade have allowed the gas phase precursors and the transformation from molecules to nanoparticles to be directly observed. These measurements combined with computational techniques allow for various mechanisms known to date to be compared and explored. Questions remain surrounding the various mechanisms that lead to nanoparticle formation. Mechanisms combining physical and chemical routes, so-called physically stabilised soot inception, are highlighted as a possible "middle way" with reactive aromatics activated by hydrogen of particular interest.