Inactivation of microorganisms with neon plasma jet at atmospheric pressure

Abstract

A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma jet of neon (Ne) at atmospheric pressure and room temperatures was arranged under a high frequency ac power supply. We achieved to obtain an atmospheric pressure glow-like discharge in this study. Not only have the effects on various microorganism been reported, but also atmospheric pressure plasma using Ne has been introduced. The microorganism inactivation by means of the non-thermal plasma were studied with eight kinds of typical microorganism, i.e., Esherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Bacillus subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes, Candida albicans and Candida glabrata. Treatment time was selected as 60 s. According to the Ne emission spectra of the plasma jet and the inactivation results of microorganism after the plasma treatment, it can be discussed that the reactive species in the Ne plasma had an important role in the inactivation of microorganism.