Ar plasma jet generation and its application for water and surface sterilization

Abstract

Microorganisms are widely distributed in the living environment of human, animals and plants. Some of the microorganisms are harmful for their pathogenic effects. Non-thermal plasma technology, especially, the atmospheric pressure plasma jet, is considered to be one of the promising technologies for sterilization. This work proposes a double-dielectric barrier discharge reactor for Ar plasma jet generation. Charteristics of discharge and temperature thermogram of plasma jet are investigated by the means of U-P curve and infrared image, respectively. Performance of the plasma jet is evaluated by surface and water sterilization. The results show that, Ar plasma jet is generated stable with double-dielectric barrier discharge. The length of plasma jet increases as the applied voltage, frequency or gas flow increased, but the plasma jet generation can be restricted in high frequency or gas flow. For E. coli in the water and surface, high sterilization efficiency is observed for a short time treatment by Ar plasma jet.