Study of transient spark discharge focused at NOx generation for biomedical applications

Abstract

The paper is focused at nitrogen oxides generation by transient spark (TS) in atmospheric pressure air. The TS is a DC-driven self-pulsing discharge with short duration (∼10-100 ns) high current pulses (>1A), with the repetition frequency 1-10 kHz. Thanks to the short spark duration, highly reactive non-equilibrium plasma is generated, producing ∼300 ppm of NOx per input energy density 100 J.l-1. Further optimization of NO/NO2 production to improve the biomedical/antimicrobial effects is possible by modifying the electric circuit generating the TS.