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Inactivation of Bacteria in Flight by Direct Exposure to Nonthermal Plasma
Journal article

Inactivation of Bacteria in Flight by Direct Exposure to Nonthermal Plasma

Nachiket D Vaze, Michael J Gallagher, Sin Sin Park, Gregory Fridman, Victor N Vasilets, Alexander F Gutsol, Shivanthi Anandan, Gary Friedman and Alexander A Fridman
IEEE transactions on plasma science, v 38(11), pp 3234-3240
Nov 2010

Abstract

Microorganisms dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma sterilization Air sterilization Plasma discharges bioaerosol Biomembranes Dielectrics plasma medicine
Plasma treatment is a promising technology for fast and effective sterilization of surfaces, waterflow, and airflow. The treatment of airflow is an important area of healthcare and biodefense that has recently gained the interest of many scientists. In this paper, we describe a dielectric barrier grating discharge (DBGD) which is used to study the inactivation of airborne Escherichia coli inside a closed air circulation system. Earlier published results indicate approximately 5-log reduction (99.999%) in the concentration of the airborne bacteria after single DBGD exposure of 10-s duration. This paper investigates plasma species influencing the inactivation. The two major factors that are studied are the effect of charged and short-lived species (direct exposure to plasma) and the effect of ozone. It is shown that for a 25% reduction in direct exposure, the inactivation falls from 97% to 29% in a single pass through the grating. The influence of ozone was studied by producing ozone remotely with an ozone generator and injecting the same concentration into the system, as that produced by the DBGD plasma. The results show a 10% reduction in the bacterial load after 10-s exposure to ozone; thus, ozone alone may not be one of the major inactivating factors in the plasma.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Industry collaboration
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
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