Development of a new atmospheric pressure cold plasma jet generator and application in sterilization

Abstract

This paper reports that a new plasma generator at atmospheric pressure, which is composed of two homocentric cylindrical all-metal tubes, successfully generates a cold plasma jet. The inside tube electrode is connected to ground, the outside tube electrode is connected to a high-voltage power supply, and a dielectric layer is covered on the outside tube electrode. When the reactor is operated by low-frequency (6 kHz–20 kHz) AC supply in atmospheric pressure and argon is steadily fed as a discharge gas through inside tube electrode, a cold plasma jet is blown out into air and the plasma gas temperature is only 25–30°C. The electric character of the discharge is studied by using digital real-time oscilloscope (TDS 200-Series), and the discharge is capacitive. Preliminary results are presented on the decontamination of E.colis bacteria and Bacillus subtilis bacteria by this plasma jet, and an optical emission analysis of the plasma jet is presented in this paper. The ozone concentration generated by the plasma jet is 1.0×1016cm−3 which is acquired by using the ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy.