Škarja M, Berden M, Jerman I (1998): The influence of ionic composition of water on the corona discharge around water drops. J Appl Phys 84(5): 2436-2442.
Abstract
We performed a series of experiments to investigate the influence of
different salts dissolved in water on the corona discharge patterns around
water drops and on subsequent image formation. Considering our research
needs, we developed a special method of corona discharge electrography
of water drops with computer analysis of images. Our method differs from
the usual corona discharge photography (known also as Kirlian photography)
in the mechanisms of image formation. It relies on chemical reactions and
deposition of substances transported in the discharge area rather than
on the usual photoreactions. Higher reproducibility of results is achieved
through simultaneous imaging and comparing of two drops from different
samples. In the presented experiments we compared different salt solutions
with distilled water and between themselves. Results show distinct behavior
of corona discharge patterns as regards ionic composition of salts, both
radially and angularly. The present investigation may also shed some light
on the problem of influence of a different ionic composition in using this
type of methods for diagnostic purposes.