Journal article
Effects of Plasma on Physical Properties of Water: Nanocrystalline-to-Amorphous Phase Transition and Improving Produce Washing
Plasma, v 5(4), pp 462-469
03 Nov 2022
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Washing fresh produce using Plasma-activated water recently became a promising eco-friendly alternative to using chemical additives such as Chlorine. We discuss the produce-washing experiments that illustrate that addition of plasma to washing water is a multi-faced phenomena. Not only it increases the sterilization ability of water by killing pathogens, but it also has improved washibility: the ability to remove pathogens from the cleaning surface. We propose an explanation of these features based on the recently discoveries that many physical and chemical properties of water change their temperature dependence between about 35 and 60 degrees Celsius. In particular, heat conductance, light absorption, and surface tension all change their temperature dependence. These drastic changes were associated with water gradually changing its mesoscopic structure: while at the higher temperatures water is a uniform media (amorphous state), at the temperatures below transition it consists of many nano-to-micro-scale clusters (crystalline state). This transition is similar to the second order phase transition. In the present paper we propose that treating water with non-thermal plasma (adding plasma-created active compounds) can lower the temperature of the transition and thus cause a significant change in such physical quantities as surface tension, viscosity, freezing rate, and wettability and washability.
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Details
- Title
- Effects of Plasma on Physical Properties of Water: Nanocrystalline-to-Amorphous Phase Transition and Improving Produce Washing
- Creators
- Jinjie He - Drexel UniversityAlexander Rabinovich - Drexel UniversityDmitri Vainchtein - Drexel UniversityAlexander Fridman - Drexel UniversityChristopher Sales - Drexel UniversityMikhail N. Shneider - Princeton University
- Publication Details
- Plasma, v 5(4), pp 462-469
- Publisher
- Mdpi
- Number of pages
- 8
- Grant note
- Princeton Collaborative Research Facility (PCRF) 2020CPS05 / Center for Produce Safety DE-SC0021378 / U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); United States Department of Energy (DOE)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- C. and J. Nyheim Plasma Institute; Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering; Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000968098400001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85158118586
- Other Identifier
- 991020532096704721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Physics, Fluids & Plasmas