Nanoparticle production using atmospheric pressure cold plasma

A new technique is proposed for the production and coating of nanoparticles, based on the dissociation of a volatile precursor in an atmospheric pressure, non-equilibrium (cold) plasma. The plasma is produced by a dielectric barrier discharge. Using this technique, nanoparticles were successfully produced from acetylene, ferrocene and hexamethyldisiloxane, using argon and helium as carrier gasses. Carbon nanoparticles were formed from acetylene when argon was used as a carrier gas, while in helium no particles were observed. The difference between the gasses is most likely due to the plasma structure. The argon plasma is filamentary, whereas in helium a homogeneous glow is observed. Using ferrocene, iron particles were produced, which rapidly oxidized to form iron oxide when exposed to ambient air. Preliminary experiments on particle coating suggest that coating by a silicon-based compound is possible.     

Formation of plasma dust structures at atmospheric pressure

The formation of strongly coupled stable dust structures in the plasma produced by an electron beam at atmospheric pressure was detected experimentally. Analytical expressions were derived for the ionization rate of a gas by an electron beam in an axially symmetric geometry by comparing experimental data with Monte Carlo calculations. Self-consistent one-dimensional simulations of the beam plasma were performed in the diffusion drift approximation of charged plasma particle transport with electron diffusion to determine the dust particle levitation conditions. Since almost all of the applied voltage drops on the cathode layer in the Thomson glow regime of a non-self-sustained gas discharge, a distribution of the electric field that grows toward the cathode is produced in it; this field together with the gravity produces a potential well in which the dust particles levitate to form a stable disk-shaped structure. The nonideality parameters of the dust component in the formation region of a highly ordered quasi-crystalline structure calculated using computational data for the dust particle charging problem were found to be higher than the critical value after exceeding which an ensemble of particles with a Yukawa interaction should pass to the crystalline state.     

On plasma parameters of a self-organized plasma jet at atmospheric pressure

Electron temperature and electron concentration in the active zone of a miniaturized radio frequency (RF) non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet in argon have been determined using two independent approaches: the spectroscopic measurement of the broadening of Balmer H_b_\beta and H_g_\gamma lines and a time-dependent, spatially two-dimensional fluid model of a single discharge filament. The plasma source has been configured as a capacitively coupled RF jet (27.12 MHz, 8 W generator output power) with two outer ring electrodes around a quartz capillary with diameter of 4.0 mm between which Ar flows at typical rates of 0.3 slm. The discharge has been operated in a self-organized mode, where equidistant, stationary filaments rotate regularly with a constant frequency at the inner wall of the outer capillary. For the purpose of calculating the spectral line broadening different models applicable at higher electron concentration have been evaluated. Resulting electron concentrations are between 2.2 and 3.3 × 1014 cm^-3. The calculation according to the line broadening model provides electron temperatures between 20 000 and 30 000 K which is in agreement with the results of the fluid model calculations. Here, a broad radial profile with a maximal value of about 22 000 K in the centre of the column and an electron concentration of about 7 × 10¹³ cm^-3 have been obtained. Moreover, the results of the model calculations reveal a structural change of the filament from the dielectric surface through the sheath to the column. The axially inhomogeneous region has an extension of about 0.5 mm. In the column a concentration of about 10¹³ cm^-3 has been found for the excited argon atoms, whose collisions with electrons represent the most important ionization channel there.     

Surface cleaning of metal wire by atmospheric pressure plasma

In this study, the possible application of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma for the annealing of metallic wire is examined and presented. The main purpose of the current study is to examine the surface cleaning effect for a cylindrical object by atmospheric pressure plasma. The experimental setup consists of a gas tank, plasma reactor, and power supply with control panel. The gas assists in the generation of plasma. Copper wire was used as an experimental cylindrical object. This copper wire was irradiated with the plasma, and the cleaning effect was confirmed. The result showed that it is possible to remove the tarnish which exists on the copper wire surface. The experiment reveals that atmospheric pressure plasma is usable for the surface cleaning of metal wire. However, it is necessary to examine the method for preventing oxidization of the copper wire.     

低温等离子体灭菌实验装置研究

相对于传统的灭菌方法,利用常压低温等离子体灭菌有许多优点.简单介绍了一个常压低温等离子体灭菌实验装置,该装置主要由电源、匹配测量电路、放电电极和真空系统及光谱检测系统等4个部分组成,并给出了运行调试的结果.     

Microorganism response to atmospheric pressure helium plasma DBD treatment

The effect of an atmospheric pressure plasma dielectric barrier discharge on some microorganisms was investigated, due to the possible extent of plasma applications in controlling microbial contamination. The present investigation involved both Gram-positive and Gram-negative germs – bacteria and yeasts – treated in helium plasma (asymmetric dielectric barrier discharge) for various time durations between 25 s and 100 s. Circular growth inhibition zones were measured for two distances between the discharge electrodes, the correlations with the plasma treatment time being analyzed. Differences between the sensitivities of the four tested microorganisms to helium plasma in open atmosphere were discussed.     

Coaxial rf atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier air-helium plasma characteristics

The electrical and optical characteristics of a coaxial rf atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) with one electrode covered with glass and with helium in air were investigated. Optical measurements with an intensified charge coupled device (ICCD) camera combined with the voltage and power vs. current data provided identification of the α to γ mode transitions. The coaxial design allowed operation with very low power density plasmas (0.18 W/cm³) and a much larger plasma size (13 mm) than the parallel plate designs.     

Basic characteristics of an atmospheric pressure rf generated plasma jet

A plasma jet has been developed which operates using radio frequency (rf) power and produces a stable homogeneous discharge at atmospheric pressure. Its discharge characteristics, especially the dependence of stable discharge operating range on the feed gas, were studied, and the electric parameters such as RMS current, RMS voltage and reflected power were obtained with different gas flows. These studies indicate that there is an optimum range of operation of the plasma jet for a filling with a gas mixture of He and O_2. Two "failure" modes of the discharge are identified. One is a filamentary arc when the input power is raised above a critical level, another is that the discharge disappears gradually as the addition of O_2 approaches 3.2%. Possible explanations for the two failure modes have been given. The current and voltage waveform measurements show that there is a clear phase shift between normal and failure modes. In addition, I－V curves as a function of pure helium and for 1% addition of oxygen have been studied.     

常压微波等离子体炬装置的模拟与设计

 介绍了一台低成本的常压微波等离子体炬设备,给出了该设备构造及喷嘴的设计思路,分析了各种气体的非磁化微波等离子体的击穿电场强度,数值求解了设备中矩形TE103谐振腔中的电磁场分布,应用高频电磁场模拟分析软件HFSS优化了喷嘴在波导中的具体位置,并对优化后喷嘴周围的电场分布进行了模拟。模拟结果表明：微波输入有效功率为500 W,喷嘴伸出矩形波导1 mm时,喷嘴尖端处的电场强度在1.2×10⁶ V·m^-1以上,远大于氩气的击穿电场强度,更易于等离子体炬的激发。实验结果证明了模拟结果的正确性和装置的有效性。     

Plasmid DNA damage induced by helium atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Recently demonstrated ghost interference using correlated photons of different frequencies, has been theoretically analyzed. The calculation predicts an interesting nonlocal effect: the fringe width of the ghost interference depends not only on the wave-length of the photon involved, but also on the wavelength of the other photon with which it is entangled. This feature, arising because of different frequencies of the entangled photons, was hidden in the original ghost interference experiment. This prediction can be experimentally tested in a slightly modified version of the experiment.     

Small size plasma tools for material processing at atmospheric pressure

A small size radiofrequency plasma jet source able to produce cold plasma jets at atmospheric pressure is presented. The surface modification of polyethylene terephtalate, polyethylene and polytetrafluorethylene foils is performed by using a scanning procedure. The contact angle measurements reveal that the treatment leads to hydrophilicity increase. The roughening of surface, specific to each material is noticed. A significant improvement of adhesion is obtained as result of atmospheric plasma treatments.     

微秒脉冲激励的大气压氦等离子体射流放电特性北大核心CSCD

研究了不同电极结构以及放电参数对微秒脉冲激励的氦等离子体射流放电特性的影响。实验中采用不同管内径、不同电极形状、不同重复频率等参数,通过采集放电阶段的电流电压图、发光图像以及发射光谱等,对等离子体射流的电学特性和光学特性进行诊断。实验结果表明,随着管内直径的增大,氦等离子体射流的长度减小;管内径为8mm时,等离子体射流的击穿电压与放电电流最小,同时,其发射光谱中第二正带系N2,N+2和O等高能活性粒子的强度最高;管内径为5mm的等离子体射流的放电电流、功率及消耗的能量最大;在相同实验条件下,针尖电极结构中的放电电流、消耗的功率还有发射光谱强度都较大;随着重复频率的增加,氦等离子体射流的长度会增加,但击穿电压减小。     

Synthesis of intrinsic fluorescent polypyrrole nanoparticles by atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization

Intrinsic fluorescent polypyrrole (ppy) nanoparticles with different shapes were fabricated by atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization. Gradient electrical field and polarization of active particles in the plasma induce change of shape of nanoparticles from spherical to rod, when the plasma power varied from 5 W to 10 W. Both X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results suggest that the atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization process (APPP) at the power of 5 W and 10 W can help to preserve the integrity of the structure of monomer due to the predominant role of radical polymerization in APPP at these powers. However, when the plasma power increased to 20 W, the ring structure of some pyrroles was destroyed, owing to existence of higher energy species. The polypyrrole nanoparticles exhibit the peak fluorescence around 415 nm. Fluorescent results show that the fluorescent properties of polypyrrole nanoparticles are related to the particle size of the polymer. The bigger particles would have more enlarged room for exciton diffusion, resulting in lower fluorescence intensity and red shift of the fluorescent peak.     

Influence of jet-to-substrate distance on plasma etching of polyamide 6 films with atmospheric pressure plasma

In this study, polyamide 6 films were treated with different jet-to-substrate distances to investigate how it influenced the etching effect of plasma treatment. When the samples were too close or too far from the nozzle, the etching rate was almost not measurable. When the distance was 2 mm, the etching rate was larger than that of other distance. Decrease in contact angle was observed under 2 mm or 3 mm of jet-to-substrate distance. However, the contact angle had no change when jet-to-substrate distance was 1 mm or 6 mm. It can be seen that the peel strength increased when jet-to-substrate distance was 2 mm or 3 mm, and the peel strength was the largest when jet-to-substrate distance was 2 mm. However, the peel strength had no change when jet-to-substrate distance was 1 mm or 6 mm. These results were corresponding to SEM and XPS results.     

Indirect plasma inactivation by a low temperature atmospheric pressure plasma (LTAPP) system

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the inactivation effect of indirect low temperature plasma exposure at atmospheric pressure produced by the original Low Temperature Atmospheric Pressure Plasma (LTAPP) system. In this system, the low temperature plasma is generated using a high voltage power supply in oxygen at atmospheric pressure. The obtained survivor curves for Escherichia coli (G⁻), Bacillus subtilis (G⁺), Staphylococcus aureus (G⁺), Candida albicans (Yeast), and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Yeast) showed that the LTAPP system could inactivate them. The optical microscope images of B. subtilis and S. cerevisiae treated have confirmed the inactivation effect of the LTAPP system.     

Measurement of optical signals as a plasma propagation in the atmospheric pressure plasma jet columns

The propagation of plasma jets with argon gas is characterized in terms of two factors, the effect of electric field distribution along the tube and the effect of voltage polarity, from the observed results of optical signals along the entire column of plasma. The optical signal of plasma propagates from the high electric-field region of high-voltage electrode toward the low field region of the open air-space, regardless of the polarity of the voltage. The optical intensity and the propagation velocity are higher for the positive voltage than for the negative voltage. Moreover, the length of plasma plume exited from the end of the glass tube into the open air is shorter for the negative voltage. When the optical intensity is strong enough, a secondary peak signal follows the primary peak. In the plasma column on the inside of the glass tube, the optical intensity and the propagation velocity depend on the strength of the electric field; they are both high at the high-field region of voltage terminal and decay toward the end of the tube. The velocity is as fast as 10⁴ m/s at the high-field region and slows down to 10³ m/s at the low-field region of the glass-tube end. However, the plasma accelerates drastically to be (10⁴–10⁵) m/s after exiting the glass tube toward open air, even though the electric field is a quite low and thus the optical signal decays low before fading out. The experimental observations present in this report are explained with the propagation of the plasma diffusion waves.     

Escherichia coli deactivation study controlling the atmospheric pressure plasma discharge conditions

Bio-applications of plasma have been widely studied in recent years. However, considering the high interests, the inactivation mechanisms of micro-organisms by plasma have not been clearly explained. The goal of this study was to find the sterilization mechanisms and define the major sterilization factors with the atmospheric pressure radio-frequency helium glow discharge. For the sterilization target the Escherichia coli was used. To begin with the sterilization study, the plasma characteristics were investigated by means of electrical and optical diagnostics. Especially, the gas temperature was controlled under 50 °C by keeping the input power less than 70 W to eliminate the thermal effects. Contribution of the UV irradiation from the plasma was studied and it turned out to be negligible. On the other hand, it was found that the sterilization was more effective up to 40% with only 0.15% oxygen addition to the helium supply gas. It indicates that the inactivation process was dominantly controlled by oxygen radicals, rather than heat or UV photons.     

The effects of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet on attachment of osteoblast

Despite the high success rate of dental implant surgery, the failures are still being reported and investigation have been undergone to improve attachment of osteoblast on the surface of implant material. With increasing interest in non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet (NTAPPJ), the effects of it on the cellular mechanisms have been previously reported. Hence in this experiment, effects of NTAPPJ on osteoblast for improved attachment and possible application in dental implant surgery were investigated.Mouse osteoblast cells of MC3T3-E1 were first directly treated with NTAPPJ with air for various durations. Also to investigate the effects by culture media, culture media were separately treated with NTAPPJ for the same durations. Cell attachments were then assessed following 4 and 24 h of cell culture using Water Soluble Tetrazolium salt (WST) assay and confirmed by automated cell counter and examining under confocal laser microscope.The results showed that there was significantly improved osteoblast attachment with relatively short duration of NTAPPJ treatment. Also results indicated that NTAPPJ possibly improved osteoblast attachment through interactions with proteins in culture media that in turn interacted with cells.Hence the application of NTAPPJ on osteoblast improves cellular attachment and would be useful tool for dental implant surgery.     

Modification of surface properties of polyamide 6 films with atmospheric pressure plasma

To investigate the effect of the different plasma gases treatment on the surface modification of atmospheric pressure plasma, polyamide 6 films were treated using pure helium (He), He/O₂ and He/CF₄, respectively. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed rougher surface, while X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed increased oxygen and fluorine contents after the plasma treatments. The plasma treated samples had lower water contact angles and higher T-peel strength than that of the control. The addition of small amount of O₂ or CF₄ to He plasma increases the effectiveness of the plasma treatment in polymer surface modification in terms of surface roughness, surface hydrophilic groups, etching rate, water contact angle and bonding strength.