Ambient air plasmas for infection control

Low-temperature plasmas are already prevalent in many modern technologies, and current applications range from the production of computer chips and mobile phones, plasma TV-displays to spacecraft propulsion. 'Cold' plasmas are weakly ionised and far from thermodynamic equilibrium; the electrons are hot (i.e. ~ 10,000 degrees C) and drive the reactive plasma chemistry, while the heavier ions and neutrals (dominant component) are very close to ambient room temperature providing a global 'low' temperature.

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas are efficient sources for tailoring chemical kinetics, and are therefore opening up many new application opportunities, including chemical synthesis and biomedical technologies. Recent technological advances in controlled electrical power delivery have allowed low-temperature plasmas in noble gases at atmospheric pressure to be sustained at ambient temperature, providing a dry chemically reactive environment, allowing for interactions and applications with temperature sensitive materials such as living tissues.

Operation in ambient air is more challenging, where the plasma is susceptible to thermal instabilities, which need to be controlled. This project will develop and investigate a stable controllable non-thermal ambient air plasma suitable for treating infectious disease. State-of-the-art recently developed diagnostic techniques will be applied and further developed to quantify reactive species within the plasma gas phase, within the liquid phase, within biomimetics and basic biological systems. These will include pico-second laser spectroscopy, EPR and spin trapping, and newly developed mass-spectrometry based trapping methods.