Verification of Radicals Formation in Ethanol-Water Mixture Based Solution Plasma and Their Relation to the Rate of Reaction

Our previous research demonstrated that using ethanol-water mixture as a liquid medium for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles by the solution plasma process (SPP) could lead to an increment of the reaction rate of ∼35.2 times faster than that in pure water. This drastic change was observed when a small amount of ethanol, that is, at an ethanol mole fraction (χ_ethanol) of 0.089, was added in the system. After this composition, the reaction rate decreased continuously. To better understand what happens in the ethanol-water mixture-based SPP, in this study, effect of the ethanol content on the radical formation in the system was verified. We focused on detecting the magnetic resonance of electronic spins using electron spin resonance spectroscopy to determine the type and quantity of the generated radicals at each χ_ethanol. Results indicated that ethanol radicals were generated in the ethanol-water mixtures and exhibited maximum quantity at the x_ethanol of 0.089. Relationship between the ethanol radical yield and the rate of reaction, along with possible mechanism responsible for the observed phenomenon, is discussed in this paper.