The electrical explosion of wire: A method for the synthesis of weakly aggregated nanopowders

This overview covers investigations and designs that demonstrate the opportunity to use the phenomenon of the electrical explosion of wire to produce weakly aggregated nanopowders of metals, alloys, mixtures, and oxides. Some general regularities that facilitate the choice of the circuit parameters and dimensions of the exploding wire necessary for producing particles of the required size are described. The limitations to synthesizing the nanopowders of some metals and oxides are indicated. The method is environmentally clean, offers sufficiently high output capacity, and is energy efficient.