Effect of the Length of a Spark Discharge Propagating along the Surface of Water on the Dynamics of Hydrogen Peroxide Production in Liquid

The paper examines a high-voltage, pulsed-periodic surface discharge propagating along a water‒gas interface using argon and oxygen as the gas medium. In the experiments, use is made of a generator with a storage capacitor energy of 1.6 J, a voltage of 20 kV, and a pulse duration of 2–3 μs. The discharge channel length is varied in the range from 3 to 15 cm. The average velocity of discharge propagation along the water surface in an Ar and O2 atmosphere is determined. The leader velocity in argon is shown to be twice that in oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide synthesized in liquid under the action of the discharge is quantitatively measured. It is found that hydrogen peroxide production linearly depends on the discharge channel length in the range from 3 to 9 cm, both when using argon and oxygen as the working gas.