Plasma Ball Production with Carbon Compounds
A discussion I initiated on The Tesla List
1. Great idea, the graphite powder, that is. That would be a cheap way to perfect an injection system and you never know, just may get some results and good photos. I'm trying to use the finest carbon particles possible. The size of the carbon in burning tires/rubber/soot is what I'm trying to approach, as mentioned below, the properties of a fullerene such as c60 is quite different from 'normal' carbon compounds. I could collect soot from a burning substance I suppose. Seems to me that a series of experiments with progressively finer materials ending with c60 is probably in order, with rolling video and a camera taking 3 second exposures.
2. It's a carbon molecule that looks exactly like a soccer ball. It has 60
atoms of carbon, and can semiconduct and superconduct if doped with other
atoms.
3.
In the Corum's ball lightning research, they were looking at diffusion
limited aggregations and things like aero gels loaded with ozone to produce
the ball. As Buckminsterfullerene's are new on the scene, they may have not
been known to the Corum's at the time of their research and not included as
possible forms.
4.
Production of fullerenes is by carbon arc in either an inert gas or vacuum
environment. The ball forms fall as dust and the tube forms form on the
electrodes. The possibility exists that a ball could be formed within a ball,
but only tube within tube forms have been found so far. The Corum's used a
charred wood dowel, and I have used zinc wicked candles, wood, car tire, and
used arc spotlight carbons. The only difference is a ozone/O2 environment which
would allow them to burn.
5. It seems that I read a while back that it's entirely
possible to make all the Buckyballs you want just by depositing acetylene soot
onto glass. I suppose the cost is in separating out the fullerenes from the
other types of carbon mixed in.
6.
Not really. A simple process using a soxhlet extractor performs that
separation. The real cost is separating the c-60 from c-70 and other
fullerenes.
7. Why not try powdered graphite, cheap easily available in
small squeeze bottles meant for squirting into locks (dry lube).
8.
Yes, but in physical properties, C60 is as different from graphite as
diamonds are from BBQ Charcoal.
9. MOT/NST + small closed glass vessel (beer bottle?) with helium atmosphere + carbon electrodes, run for a while, scratch off the generated lint from the inner walls of the vessel, it's various carbon compounds with plenty of 'Buckminster Fuller' fullerenes C44, C60, C70. http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/buckyballs.html (first google hit, more about buckyball crystal growing, but it vaguely explains the setup). Lot's of fullerenes for nearly no bucks ($). So, unless there's something unexplainably magical about using precisely C60?
10. It seems that I read a while back that it's entirely possible to make all the Buckyballs you want just by depositing acetylene soot onto glass. I suppose the cost is in separating out the fullerenes from the other types of carbon mixed in.
11. Don't waste your money; the burning rubber (small piece!) will do just fine for starters.
12. Microfine carbon known in the pyrotechnics industry as carbon black or lamp black is what you want, I bought a kilo of it years ago from an industrial supplier that I cant remember, made my own eventually, cast my own 1-1\4" lead balls and made a ball mill. willow charcoal is best, leave it run for a couple of days and you get the finest filthiest charcoal you can imagine, didn't cost a lot and got some left in a container somewhere, the ball mill was used for grinding mixtures as well as raw materials, lead or brass balls and a wood or plastic tumbler are mandatory, any spark from steel is disaster with flammable microfine compounds. used to be full on into pyrotechnics but haven't done it for quite a few years now, try chemical suppliers or pyro specialists in the states, or make your own in a ball mill. I've worked with some of the most nastiest chemicals one can imagine short of nuclear materials and these buckballs sounds like they're right up there with them. If you acquire or make the suckers please take care, diamond in microfine form as the residue from the cutting and polishing process, if ingested, is one of the most toxic substances known and causes one of the most slow and painful deaths known to man.
13. It's a simple allotrope of carbon, just about as toxic as carbon itself, graphite, or diamond. Some Russian medical site stated LD50 1000..1500g/kg, meaning you'd have to chunk down LOTS of it. (Although toxicity hasn't been researched in much detail yet, apparently. Compounds intentionally trapped inside the C60 sphere can be toxic, though) http://www2.electrochem.org/cgi-bin/abs?mtg=205&abs=0583&type=pdf. Here's more info for the DIY approach: http://www.creative-science.org.uk/design.html. Possible health risk found in carbon particles: http://www.iht.com/articles/512473.html.
14. Buckyballs, a spherical form of carbon discovered in 1985 and an important
material in the new field of nanotechnology, can cause extensive brain damage in
fish, according to research presented at a national meeting of the American
Chemical Society in Anaheim, California.
.
15.
Eva Oberdoerster, an environmental toxicologist at Southern Methodist University
in Dallas, said Sunday that the buckyballs also had altered the behavior of
genes in liver cells of the juvenile largemouth bass she had studied. I think it's a reprint of a NYT
article. The carbon is harmless enough but it's generally a bad idea to
introduce very small particles into the lungs as they cannot be expelled. If I
understand correctly, the Fullerenes pass through cell membranes almost like a
fluid and cause mischief in the organs.
16. While C-60 is potentially a useful form of carbon to produce fireballs, why would you want to spend so much on fuel? It is easy to produce plasma. All you need is a microwave oven, a pyrex measuring cup (I used a beaker myself, but the measuring cup is usually more readily available), and a really short candle - I think they call them tea candles or maybe votive candles...in any case the candle should be short and fat. Simply set the MW on high for say 3 minutes. Light the candle, place it in the center of the rotating dish, invert the pyrex dish over the candle, quickly shut the door and hit the on button. It might take a few tries (sometimes the candle gets blown out). If your microwave doesn't have the turn table, you may need to find the 'hot' spot. Many microwaves do not have a uniform field inside and some location will work better than others. I have not known this to damage a microwave, but proceed at your own risk.
The above procedure produces plasma ball inside the inverted measuring cup (assuming you get it working). As far as producing c-60, I suggest using a DC welder and get it arcing in an argon atmosphere at 100torr. That is the common method I've seen. You must then solvate the fullerenes in an aromatic solvent such as toluene or benzene...the soot remains insoluble and is easily filtered. A soxhlet extractor is the best way to go about this.
I do have an idea for possible producing fullerenes preferentially to soot, but have yet to experiment with the idea. Could revolutionize the production if it works as I think it should. Mike