TREATMENT OF METALS, POLYMER FILMS, AND FABRICS WITHA ONE ATMOSPHERE UNIFORM GLOW DISCHARGE PLASMA(OAUGDP) FOR INCREASED SURFACE ENERGY AND DIRECTIONAL ETCHING

Direct exposure of samples to the active species of air generated by a One Atmosphere Uniform Glow Discharge Plasma (OAUGDP) has been used to etch and to increase the surface energy of metallic surfaces, photoresist, polymer films, and nonwoven fab- rics. The OAUGDP is a non-thermal plasma with the classical characteristics of a DC normal glow discharge that operates in air (and other gases) at atmospheric pres- sure. Neither a vacuum system nor batch processing is necessary. A wide range of applications to metals, photoresist, films, fabrics, and polymeric webs can be accom- modated by direct exposure of the workpiece to the plasma in parallel-plate reactors. This technolopy is simple, it produces effects that can be obtained in no other way at one atmosphere; it generates minimal pollutants or unwanted by-products; and it is suitable for individual sample or online treatment of metallic surfaces, wafers, films, and fabrics. Early exposures of solid materials to the OAUGDP required minutes to produce rela- tively small increases of surface energy. These durations appeared too long for com- mercial application to fast-moving webs. Recent improvements in OAUGDP gas com- position, power density, plasma quality, recireulating gas flow, and impedance match- ing of the power supply to the parallel plate plasma reactor have made it possible to raise the surface energy of a variety of polymeric webs (PP, PET PE etc.) to levels of 60 to 70 dynes/cm with one second of exposure. In air plasmas, the high surface ener- gies are not durable, and fall to 50 dynes/cm after periods of weeks to months. Here, we report the exposure of metallic surfaces, photoresist, polymeric films, and nonwo- ven fabrics made of PP and PET to an impedance matched parallel plate OAUGDP for durations ranging from one second to several tens of seconds. Data will be re- ported on the surface energy, wettability, wickability, and aging effect of polymeric films and fabrics as functions of time of exposure, and time after exposure; the rate and uniformity of photoresist etching; and the production of sub-micron structures by OAUGDP etching at one atmosphere.

A Novel Continuously Initiated Polymerization by One-Atmosphere Low Temperature Plasma Device

A novel atmospheric plasma device developed in this paper, which is more effective and convenient to study the plasma-initiated polymerization (PIP) than conventional setup. The structure and mechanism of the device is introduced. Some plasma-initiated polymerization experiments are carried out on the device, and the conversion of AA (Acrylic acid) and AM (Acryl amide) atmospheric (N2) plasma polymerization are respectively 89% and 94% after 120 h post polymerization, whereby IR spectra of the product (AA, AM). Our PIP result are confirmed.

Conditions for Producing and Maintaining Plasma Ball Lightning in the Atmosphere

Based on the results of plasma experiments and research work done by Dawson and Jones, Trubnikov, Endean, and other researchers, three requirements for producing and maintaining plasma ball lightning have been found: 1) rotation of plasma, 2) the density of charged particles nc > 3.15 × 10-10ω2,3) a stable confinement of plasma. In this model, the energy density of ball lightning ranged from 10-2 J / cm3 to 104 J/ cm3, the formation, shape, stability, energy, maintaining processes and other properties of ball lightning were explained reasonably.

Influence of bias voltage and oxygen addition on the discharge aspects of a diffuse argon plume in an atmospheric pressure plasma jet

A remote plasma,also referred to as a plasma plume(diffuse or filamentary),is normally formed downstream of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet.In this study,a diffuse plume is formed by increasing the bias voltage(U_(b))applied to the downstream electrode of an argon plasma jet excited by a negatively pulsed voltage.The results indicate that the plume is filamentary when U_(b)is low,which transits to the diffuse plume with increasing U_(b).The discharge initiated at the rising edge of the pulsed voltage is attributed to the diffuse plume,while that at the falling edge contributes to the filament in the plume.For the diffuse plume,the discharge intensity decreases with the increasing oxygen content(C_o).Fast photography reveals that the diffuse plume results from a negative streamer,which has a dark region near the nozzle with C_o=0%.However,the dark region is absent with C_o=0.5%.From the optical emission spectrum,the electron density,electron excitation temperature,gas temperature,and oxygen atom concentration are investigated.

Hydrogen Permeation Characteristics of Pd-CuMembrane in Plasma Membrane Reactor

Hydrogen is an alternative energy source that has the potential to replace fossil fuels.One of the hydrogen applications is as a material for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells(PEMFC)in fuel cell vehicles.High-purity hydrogen can be obtained using a hydrogen separation membrane to prevent unwanted contaminants from potentially harming the PEMFC components.In this study,we fabricated a plasma membrane reactor and investigated the permeation performance of a hydrogen separation membrane in a plasma membrane reactor utilizing atmospheric pressure plasma.The result showed the hydrogen permeation rate increasing with time as reactor temperature is increased through joule heating.By decreasing the gap length of the reactor from 2 to 1 mm,the hydrogen permeation rate increases by up to 40%.The hydrogen permeation rate increases by 30%when pressure is applied to the plasma membrane reactor by up to 100 kPa.

Preparation and properties of supersonic atmospheric plasma sprayed TiB2−SiC coating

With the TiB2−SiC powders after spray granulation and vacuum calcination as raw materials,the TiB2−SiC coating was prepared by supersonic atmospheric plasma spraying(SAPS).The effects of spraying power and spraying distance on the properties of the TiB2−SiC coating were investigated and the fabrication processing of SAPS was optimized.The results show that the sprayed powders after calcination have a uniform particle size distribution,good sphericity and enhanced fluidity.The coating prepared by the calcined powders has a dense structure and high deposition efficiency.When the calcined TiB2−SiC powders are used and the spraying power is 95 kW and the spraying distance is 150 mm during supersonic plasma spraying,the obtained TiB2−SiC coating behaves the best comprehensive performance with the porosity,microhardness,bonding strength and resistivity equal to 5.6%,3.57 GPa,18.3 MPa and 10.8 mΩ·cm,respectively.

Influence of chloride ion concentration on immersion corrosion behaviour of plasma sprayed alumina coatings on AZ31B magnesium alloy

Corrosion attack of aluminium and magnesium based alloys is a major issue worldwide.The corrosion degradation of an uncoated and atmospheric plasma sprayed alumina(APS)coatings on AZ31B magnesium alloy was investigated using immersion corrosion test in NaCl solutions of different chloride ion concentrations viz.,0.01 M,0.2 M,0.6 M and 1 M.The corroded surface was characterized by an optical microscope and X-ray diffraction.The results showed that the corrosion deterioration of uncoated and coated samples were significantly influenced by chloride ion concentration.The uncoated magnesium and alumina coatings were found to offer a superior corrosion resistance in lower chloride ion concentration NaCl solutions(0.01 M and 0.2 M NaCl).On the other hand the coatings and Mg alloy substrate were found to be highly susceptible to localized damage,and could not provide an effective corrosion protection in solutions containing higher chloride concentrations(0.6 M and 1 M).It was found that the corrosion resistance of the ceramic coatings and base metal gets deteriorated with the increase in the chloride concentrations.

Surface Treatment of PET Nonwovens with Atmospheric Plasma

In this study, polyethylene-terephthalate （PET） nonwovens are treated using an atmospheric plasma and the effects of the treatment time, treatment power and discharge distance on the ability of water-penetration into the nonwovens are investigated. The result indicates that the method can improve the wettability of PET nonwovens remarkably, but the aging decay of the sample＇s wettability is found to be notable as a function of the storage time after treatment due to the internal rotation of the single bond of surface macromolecules. As shown by SEM and XPS analysis, the etching and surface reaction are significant, and water-penetration weight is found to increase remarkably with the increasing power. This variation can be attributed to momentum transfer and enhanced higher-energy particle excitation.

Molecular dynamics simulations of the interaction between OH radicals in plasma with poly-β-1–6-N-acetylglucosamine

Cold atmospheric plasma shows a satisfactory ability to inactivate bacterial biofilms that are difficult to remove using conventional methods in some cases. However, the researches on the inactivation mechanism are not quite sufficient. Poly-β-1–6-N-acetylglucosamine(PNAG),which is one of the important components in some biofilms, was used as the research subject,and the related mechanism of action triggered by different concentrations of the OH in plasma was studied using reactive molecular dynamics simulations. The results showed that OH radicals could not only trigger the hydrogen abstraction reaction leading to cleavage of the PNAG molecular structure, but undergo an OH addition reaction with PNAG molecules. New reaction pathways appeared in the simulations as the OH concentration increased, but the reaction efficiency first increased and then decreased. The simulation study in this paper could, to some extent, help elucidate the microscopic mechanism of the interaction between OH radicals in plasma and bacterial biofilms at the atomic level.

The Interactions of Two Cold Atmospheric Plasma Jets

This paper presents the interactions between two cold atmospheric plasma jets. By changing the experimental conditions including the gas flow rate, the applied voltage, the power supply frequency and the inter-electrode distance d, three different interaction modes, attraction, repulsion and combination, were observed. It is shown that the interaction modes of the two jets are principally affected by the electrodes, the gas flow rate, the plasma jets and the power supply frequency.

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet in Ar and O_2/Ar Mixtures:Properties and High Performance for Surface Cleaning

An atmospheric pressure plasma jet generated in Ar and O2/Ar mixtures has been investigated by specially designed equipment with double power electrodes at 20~32 kHz, and their effects on the cleaning of surfaces have been studied. Properties of the jet discharge are studied by electrical diagnostics, including the waveform of discharge voltage, discharge current and the Q-V Lissajous figures. The optical emission spectroscopy is used to measure the plasma parameters, such as the excitation temperature and the gas temperature. It is found that the consumed power and the excitation temperature increase with increase of the discharge frequency. On the other hand, at the same discharge frequency, these parameters in O2/Ar mixture plasma are found to be much larger. The effect on surface cleaning is studied from the changes in the contact angle. For Ar plasma jet, the contact angle decreases with increase of the discharge frequency. For O2/Ar mixture plasma jet, the contact angle decreases with increase of discharge frequency up to 26 kHz, however, further increase of discharge frequency does not show further decrease in the contact angle. At the same discharge frequency, the contact angle after O2/Ar mixture plasma cleaning is found to be much lower compared to the case of pure Ar. From the results of quadrupole mass-spectrum analysis, we can identify more fragment molecules of CO and H2O in the emitted gases after O2/Ar plasma jet treatment compared with Ar plasma jet treatment, which are produced by the decomposition of surface organic contaminants during the cleaning process.

In vitro study of nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma in improving the durability of the dentin–adhesive interface with an etch-and-rinse system

In this study, we employed a nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma(NTAPP) jet to evaluate the effect of plasma treatment on the durability of resin–dentin bonding under a thermocycling challenge. Furthermore, we assessed the degradation resistance of plasma-treated collagen under a sodium hypochlorite(NaClO) challenge. We assessed the beneficial effect of NTAPP treatment on the acid-etched dentin–bonding interface by testing the micro-tensile bond strength and examining the morphology. We found that the immediate bonding strength of the dentin significantly increased after NTAPP treatment. Compared with the control group, NTAPP resulted in a more prominent effect on the bonding durability of the dentin–adhesive interface after treatment for 5 or 10 s. Simultaneously, the mechanical strength of dentin collagen under the NaClO challenge was improved. Our results indicate that, in optimal conditions, NTAPP could be a promising method to protect dentin collagen and to improve the bonding durability between dentin and etch-and-rinse adhesives.

Comparative study on corrosion behavior of plasma sprayed Al_2O_3, ZrO_2, Al_2O_3/ZrO_2 and ZrO_2/Al_2O_3 coatings

ZrO2, Al2O3, ZrO2/Al2O3 and Al2O3/ZrO2 coatings were fabricated on low carbon steel using atmospheric plasma spraying technique. The microstructure and phase composition of the as-sprayed coatings were examined by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and X-ray diffraction （XRD）, respectively. The polarization test, salt spray test and immersion test were used to investigate the corrosion behavior of the coatings in 3.5% NaCl solution. The results suggested that the bilayered Al2O3/ZrO2 coating exhibits superior corrosion resistance when compared with the other coatings. This is ascribed to the presence of very few interconnected pores and stable phases in the coating.

Applications of cold atmospheric plasmas(CAPs)in agriculture:a brief review and the novel development of a radio-frequency CAP jet generator for plant mutation

Cold atmospheric plasmas(CAPs)have shown great applicability in agriculture.Many kinds of CAP sources have been studied in agricultural applications to promote plant growth and cure plant diseases.We briefly review the state-of-the-art stimulating effects of atmospheric-pressure dielectricbarrier-discharge(AP-DBD)plasmas,after the direct or indirect treatment of plants for growth promotion and disease control.We then discuss the special demands on the characteristics of the CAP sources for their applications in plant mutation breeding.An atmospheric and room temperature plasma(ARTP)jet generator with a large plasma irradiation area,a high enough concentration of chemically reactive species and a low gas temperature is designed for direct plant mutagenesis.Experimental measurements of the electrical,thermal and optical features of the ARTP generator are conducted.Then,an ARTP-P(ARTP for plant mutagenesis)mutation breeding machine is developed,and a typical case of plant mutation breeding by the ARTP-P mutation machine is presented using Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.seeds.Physical and agricultural experiments show that the newly-developed ARTP-P mutation breeding machine with a large irradiation area can generate uniform CAP jets with high concentrations of chemically reactive species and mild gas temperatures,and have signiflcant mutagenesis effects on the Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.seeds.The ARTP-P mutation breeding machine may provide a platform for systematic studies on mutation mechanisms and results for various plant seeds under different operating conditions in future research.

Investigation of non-thermal atmospheric plasma for the degradation of avermectin solution

Increasing concern with regard to food safety in the presence of pesticide residues(PRs) on the surface of agricultural products has resulted in the rapid development of practical degrading technologies for corresponding PRs. In this paper, an unconventional method of degrading pesticides, non-thermal atmospheric plasma(NTAP), was proposed to degrade the avermectin(AVM) in aqueous solution. Optical emission spectroscopy shows that NTAP, consisting of filamentary streamers, contains a variety of reactive oxygen species(ROS) that may interact with AVM. The high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)-MS/MS results indicate that the efficiency of AVM degradation seriously depends on multiple operation parameters of the NTAP,including the applied voltage, treatment time and gas flow rate. The maximum degradation rate of AVM was observed to be 97.47% after 240 s exposure under NTAP with an applied voltage of 18 kV and gas flow rate of 1 l min-1. Molecular dynamics simulation based on a reactive force field for the interaction between O(ground state atomic oxygen) and AVM was performed to analyze the underpinning mechanisms. The simulation result shows the possible pathways of the NTAPgenerated O degrading AVM by destroying the glycosyl group or fracturing the ester group.

Systemic study on the safety of immuno-deficient nude mice treated by atmospheric plasma-activated water

Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma is a new technology, widely used in many fields of biomedicine,especially in cancer treatment. Cold plasma can selectively kill a variety of tumor cells, and its biological safety in clinical trials is also very important. In many cases, the patient’s immune level is relatively low, so we first studied the safety assessment of plasma treatment in an immunocompromised animal model. In this study, we examined the safety of immuno-deficient nude mice by oral lavage treatment of plasma-activated water, and studied the growth status, main organs and blood biochemical indexes. Acute toxicity test results showed that the maximum dose of plasma treatment for 15 min had no lethal effect and other acute toxicity. There were no significant changes in body weight and survival status of mice after 2 min and 4 min of plasma-activated water(PAW)treatment for 2 weeks. After treatment, the major organs, including heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney, were not significantly changed in organ coefficient and tissue structure. Blood biochemical markers showed that blood neutrophils and mononuclear cells were slightly increased, and the others remained unchanged. Liver function, renal function, electrolytes, glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism were not affected by different doses of PAW treatment. The above results indicate that PAW treatment can be used to treat immuno-deficient nude mice without significant safety problems.

Efficacy of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma as an Antibacterial Agent Against Enterococcus Faecalis in Vitro

Enterococcus faecalis （E. faecalis） is a microorganism that can survive extreme challenges in obturated root canals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma plume against E. faecalis in vitro. A non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet device which could generate a cold plasma plume carrying a peak current of 300 mA was used. The antibacterial efficacy of this device against E. faecalis and its biofihn un- der different conditions was detected. The antibacterial efficacy of the plasma against E. faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus （S. aureus） was also evaluated. After plasma treatment, the average diameter of inhibition zone on S. aureus and E. faecalis was 2.62±0.26 cm and 1.06±0.30 cm, respectively （P 〈 0.05）. The diameter was increased with prolongation of the treatment dura- tion. The diameters of inhibition zone of the sealed Petri dishes were larger than those of the uncovered Petri dishes. There was significant difference in colony-forming units between plasma group and control group on E. faecalis biofilm （P 〈 0.01）. The transmission electron microscopy revealed that the ultrastructural changes eytoderm of E. faecalis were observed after treatment for 2min. It is concluded that the non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma could serve as an effective adjunct to standard endodontie microbial treatment.

Experimental Study on Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuator with Different Encapsulated Electrode Widths for Airflow Control at Atmospheric Pressure

The surface dielectric barrier discharge （SDBD） plasma actuator has shown great promise as an aerodynamic flow control device. In this paper, the encapsulated electrode width of a SDBD actuator is changed to study the airflow acceleration behavior. The effects of encapsulated electrode width on the actuator performance are experimentally investigated by measuring the dielectric layer surface potential, time-averaged ionic wind velocity and thrust force. Experimental results show that the airflow velocity and thrust force increase with the encapsulated electrode width. The results can be attributed to the distinct plasma distribution at different encapsulated electrode widths.

Three different low-temperature plasma-based methods for hydrophilicity improvement of polyethylene films at atmospheric pressure

Three different low-temperature plasma-based methods were used to improve the surface hydrophilicity of polyethy- lene （PE） films, and all the modification processes were carried out by employing an atmospheric pressure plasma jet （APPJ） system. （a） PE films were directly modified by APPJ using a gas mixture of He and 02. （b） Acrylic acid （AA） was introduced into the system and a polymer acrylic acid （PAA） coating was deposited onto the PE films. （c） AA was grafted onto the PE surface activated by plasma pre-treatment. It was found that the hydrophilicity of the PE films was significantly improved for all the three methods. However, the samples modified by Process （a） showed hydrophobicity recovery after a storage time of 20 days while no significant change was found in samples modified by Process （b） and Process （c）. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR） results indicated that the most intensive C=O peak was detected on the PE surface modified by Process （c）. According to the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） analysis, the ratios of oxygen-containing polar groups for samples modified by Process （b） and Process （c） were higher than that modified by Process （a）.

Applications of atmospheric pressure plasma in microbial inactivation and cancer therapy: a brief review

Atmospheric pressure cold plasma, with advantages such as high particle activity, no thermal damage, high efficiency and direct and friendly contact with human tissues, is considered to have great potential in biomedical applications. Therefore, 'plasma medicine' as a new interdiscipline has been developed in the past two decades. This review first briefly describes the development of typical plasma sources suitable for biomedical applications, and those with different discharge forms are simply compared, evaluated and summarized. Subsequently, measurement of the crucial gaseous reactive particles(e.g. OH and O) and their spatio-temporal distributions are introduced. Meanwhile, the generation and variation rules and the related critical macroscopic parameters of the plasma-induced aqueous reactive species are summarized. Finally, related studies in the last ten years on the mechanisms of the plasma-driven microbial inactivation and plasma-induced apoptosis of cancer cells are introduced. Moreover, some scientific problems that need to be urgently solved in the field of plasma medicine are also discussed. This review will provide useful guidance for future related research.