Comparison of Direct and Indirect Effects of Non-Thermal Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma on Bacteria

• Published in: Plasma processes and polymers Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 370 - 375
• Main Authors: Fridman, Gregory, Brooks, Ari D., Balasubramanian, Manjula, Fridman, Alexander, Gutsol, Alexander, Vasilets, Victor N., Ayan, Halim, Friedman, Gary
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 23.05.2007; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley-VCH
• Subjects: dielectric barrier discharges (DBD); direct and afterglow plasma treatment; direct and indirect plasma sterilization; Electric discharges; Exact sciences and technology; ion-assisted chemistry; non-thermal plasma; Other gas discharges; Physics; Physics of gases, plasmas and electric discharges; Physics of plasmas and electric discharges; Plasma applications; Atmospheric pressure; Dielectric barrier discharge; dielectric barrier discharges (DBD); Biological tissues; direct and indirect plasma sterilization; Plasma pressure; Plasma assisted processing; Non thermal plasma; Air; direct and afterglow plasma treatment; Microorganisms; Afterglow; ion-assisted chemistry; Plasma sterilization; Gas flow; Sterilization; Charged particles; Comparative study; non-thermal plasma; Capacitive discharge
• ISSN: 1612-8850; 1612-8869
• DOI: 10.1002/ppap.200600217

Direct and indirect influence on microorganisms of non‐thermal atmospheric‐pressure DBD in air is compared in terms of bacterial inactivation rates. It is demonstrated that direct influence of the plasma, where charged particles contact bacteria directly, produces inactivation much faster than the indirect treatment, where plasma afterglow is delivered to the bacteria with a gas flow through the plasma region. This leads to an important conclusion that the effect of charged particles on plasma plays the essential role in interaction with living organisms, although synergy with longer living active molecules and atoms as well as UV radiation generated in plasma and at the surface of tissues may also play a role in inactivation.