Electrolyte-as-Cathode Glow Discharge Emission and the Processes of Solution-to-Plasma Transport of Neutral and Charged Species

Emission from an atmospheric-pressure glow discharge with alkali metal chloride solutions used as the cathode was studied. The relation between the discharge emission and the cathode sputtering process leading to the transfer of solution components to the plasma zone was analyzed. It was assumed that the appearance of neutral alkali metal atoms and halogens in the plasma zone is due to the dissociation of halide molecules from a covalently bound state, since the transition to this state becomes possible as a result of excitation of sputtered molecules to high vibrational levels.