Atmospheric Pressure Low-Frequency Plasma-Jet Operating With Air And Argon. Electrical Studies And Plasma Characterization

L. GIULIANI; M. XAUBET; D. GRONDONA; F. MINOTTI

Buenos aires

Conferencia; 13th International conference on plasma based ion implantation and deposition; 2015

Atmospheric-pressure plasma jets have an extensive use in plasma biology and plasma medicine, such as pathogen deactivation, wound disinfection, stopping of bleeding without damage of healthy tissue, acceleration of wound healing, control of bio-film proliferation, etc. In this work a small plasma jet is generated applying ac high voltage (KV) and low frequency (50 Hz) between two disk-shaped electrodes with a hole in the center and separated by a dielectric material. A plasma jet emerges from the electrode system to the room air when a large gas flow rate is passing through the holes. The electrical characteristics of the discharge and the length of the plasma plume were studied varying the applied voltage amplitude and the gas flow rate. A spectroscopic characterization of the plasma jet is also presented for air and argon. It was found that both spectra show emissions of molecular nitrogen containing N2 second positive systems. The air spectrum also contains peaks corresponding to OH and N2+ and the argon one contains peaks corresponding to OH and Ar. These excited molecules and energetic UV photons play important roles in the sterilizing properties of plasmas