A nonequilibrium Ar∕O2 plasma discharge at atmospheric pressure was carried out in a coaxial cylindrical reactor with a stepped electrode configuration powered by a 13.56MHz rf power supplier. The argon glow discharge with high electron density produces oxygen reactive species in large quantities. Argon plasma jets penetrate deep into ambient air and create a path for oxygen radicals to sterilize microbes. A sterilization experiment with bacterial endospores indicates that an argon-oxygen plasma jet very effectively kills endospores of Bacillus atrophaeus (ATCC 9372), thereby demonstrating its capability to clean surfaces and its usefulness for reinstating contaminated equipment as free from toxic biological warfare agents. The decimal reduction time (D values) of the Ar∕O2 plasma jet at an exposure distance of 0.5–1.5cm ranges from 5 to 57s. An actinometric comparison of the sterilization data shows that atomic oxygen radicals play a significant role in plasma sterilization. When observed under a scanning electron microscope, the average size of the spores appears to be greatly reduced due to chemical reactions with the oxygen radicals.

In this paper, the electrical discharge characteristics of plasmas generated in coaxial cylindrical electrodes capacitively powered by a radio-frequency power supply at atmospheric pressure are investigated with respect to helium and argon gases. The electrical discharge parameters, voltage ͑V͒, current ͑I͒, and power ͑P͒, are measured for both helium and argon plasmas, and the electron temperatures and electron densities for them are evaluated by means of the equivalent circuit model and the power balance equation. By comparison of the discharge characteristics of the helium and argon plasmas, it is found that the discrepant macroscopic characteristics of helium and argon plasma, viz., current and voltage characteristics and current and power characteristics, are owed to their own intrinsic microscopic parameters of the helium and argon atoms, such as the first excited energy, the ionization energy, the total cross section, and the atom mass. Furthermore, the influences of the additive gas, oxygen gas, on the electrical discharge characteristics are also investigated in the helium and argon plasmas, which are closely related to the electron temperature of plasmas.

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The nonequilibrium glow discharge in argon mixed with oxygen at atmospheric pressure was generated in a parallel plate reactor with a stepped electrode powered by a 13.56 MHz radio-frequency power supplier. The stepped-electrode reactor consists of a narrow and wide gap structure. A strong electric field occurred at the narrow gap region preionizes Ar/ O 2 gas and assists to generate a large volumetric plasma in the wide gap region. Therefore, the stepped-electrode reactor makes it easy to operate Ar/ O 2 glow discharge, providing a stable, uniform, and broad plasma jet at atmospheric pressure.

The sterilizing effect of the non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma jet by applying it to the Bacillus subtilis spores is invesigated. A stable glow discharge in argon or helium gas fed with active gas (oxygen), was generated in the coaxial cylindrical reactor powered by the radio-frequency power supply at atmospheric pressure. The experimental results indicated that the efficiency of killing spores by making use of an Ar/O2 plasma jet was much better than with a He/O2 plasma jet. The decimal reduction value of Ar/O2 and He/O2 plasma jets under the same experimental conditions was 4.5 seconds and 125 seconds, respectively. It was found that there exists an optimum oxygen concentration for a certain input power, at which the sterilization efficiency reaches a maximum value. It is believed that the oxygen radicals are generated most efficiently under this optimum condition.