A twin surface dielectric barrier discharge consisting of an aluminium oxide plate with grid‐structured copper traces on both sides is presented. Due to the size of the electrode configuration spatially resolved optical emission spectroscopy for characterisation of the discharge is performed on two different length scales in order to show its homogeneous behaviour. A broadband echelle spectrometer is employed for a comparison of the plasma parameters at different sites along the copper traces with a spatial resolution on a scale of millimetres. In addition, an ICCD camera with bandpass filters yields homogeneity of the plasma parameters on a scale of micrometres at a given node of the grid‐structured copper traces. The discharge is shown to be homogeneous all along the electrode. However, due to the changing composition of the gas stream, it cannot be concluded that the gas phase chemistry follows the same trend. Therefore, FTIR spectroscopy of cysteine is used to monitor the spatial dependence of the gas phase chemistry, showing a transition from purely oxygen‐related modifications at the front of the electrode to a mixture of oxygen‐related and nitrogen‐related modifications at the rear.

Thiol moieties are major targets for cold plasma-derived nitrogen and oxygen species, making CAPs convenient tools to modulate redox-signaling pathways in cells and tissues. The underlying biochemical pathways are currently under investigation but especially the role of CAP derived RNS is barely understood. Their potential role in protein thiol nitrosylation would be relevant in inflammatory processes such as wound healing and improving their specific production by CAP would allow for enhanced treatment options beyond the current application. The impact of a modified kINPen 09 argon plasma jet with nitrogen shielding on cysteine as a thiol-carrying model substance was investigated by FTIR spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The deposition of short-lived radical species was measured by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, long-lived species were quantified by ion chromatography (NO 2 - , NO 3 - ) and xylenol orange assay (H 2 O 2 ). Product profiles were compared to samples treated with the so-called COST jet, being introduced by a European COST initiative as a reference device, using both reference conditions as well as conditions adjusted to kINPen gas mixtures. While thiol oxidation was dominant under all tested conditions, an Ar + N 2 /O 2 gas compositions combined with a nitrogen curtain fostered nitric oxide deposition and the desired generation of S-nitrosocysteine. Interestingly, the COST-jet revealed significant differences in its chemical properties in comparison to the kINPen by showing a more stable production of RNS with different gas admixtures, indicating a different • NO production pathway. Taken together, results indicate various chemical properties of kINPen and COST-jet as well as highlight the potential of plasma tuning not only by gas admixtures alone but by adjusting the surrounding atmosphere as well.

A volume and a twin surface dielectric barrier discharge (VDBD and SDBD) are generated in different nitrogen-oxygen mixtures at atmospheric pressure by applying damped sinusoidal voltage waveforms with oscillation periods in the microsecond time scale. Both electrode configurations are located inside vacuum vessels and operated in a controlled atmosphere to exclude the influence of surrounding air. The discharges are characterised with different spatial and temporal resolution by applying absolutely calibrated optical emission spectroscopy in conjunction with numerical simulations and current-voltage measurements. Plasma parameters, namely the electron density and the reduced electric field, and the dissipated power are found to depend strongly on the oxygen content in the working gas mixture. Different spatial and temporal distributions of plasma parameters and dissipated power are explained by surface and residual volume charges for different O 2 admixtures due to their effects on the electron recombination rate. Thus, the oxygen admixture is found to strongly influence the breakdown process and plasma conditions of a VDBD and a SDBD. K E Y W O R D S collisional-radiative model, controlled atmosphere, dielectric barrier discharge, optical emission spectroscopy, plasma parameters ---

A new computationally assisted diagnostic to measure NO densities in atmospheric-pressure microplasmas by Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) is developed and validated against absorption spectroscopy in a volume Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD). The OES method is then applied to a twin surface DBD operated in N2 to measure the NO density as a function of the O2 admixture (0.1%–1%). The underlying rate equation model reveals that NO(A2Σ+) is primarily excited by reactions of the ground state NO(X2Π) with metastables N2(A3Σu+).

No abstract