Development of a Plasma jet for gas phase electrochemistry

The outcome of this proposed work will be to develop a stable air plasma jet that can be used as a medium for plasma electrochemistry. The work proposed here will build on our expertise in unusual electrically conducting gases (or electrolytes). The intention here is to combine our complementary expertise in plasma generation and ionisation detection to develop an air plasma jet powered by RF discharge and develop suitable plasma electrodes for use for dynamic electrochemistry. Gaseous plasmas are defined by containing mobile charge carriers, regardless of how they are produced. Their technological utility in part stems from their complex nonequilibrium chemistry that provides access to a dynamic chemistry not available through any other means. They have been used successfully in a great deal of technological applications, such as materials processing in the microelectronics industry to surface modification for adhesion. A wide variety of different diagnostic approaches have been developed; arguably the most successful are Langmuir conductivity probes, used to determine ion and electron number densities, electron temperatures and plasma potentials.
At UCL we have developed strong capability to characterise flames and more recently RF generated plasma jets using electrochemical methodology (including conductivity and voltammetry).