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The involvement of plasma produced species in the reduction of silver ions at the plasma–liquid interface is investigated using a well-characterized radio-frequency driven atmospheric pressure plasma jet. The absolute gas phase H density was measured using two photon absorption laser induced fluorescence in the free jet. Broadband absorption and transmission electron microscopy were used to study the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). It is shown that fructose, an often used surfactant/stabilizer for AgNP synthesis, also acts as a reducing agent after plasma exposure. Nonetheless, surfactant free AgNP synthesis is observed. Several experimental findings indicate that H plays an important role in the reduction of silver ions for the plasma conditions in this study. Vacuum ultraviolet photons generated by the plasma are able to reduce silver ions in the presence of fructose. Adding H2 to the argon feed gas leads to the production of a large amount of AgNPs having a particle size distribution with a maximum at a diameter of 2–3 nm, which is not observed for argon plasmas. This finding is consistent with a smaller concentration of reducing species at the plasma–liquid interface for Ar with the H2 admixture plasma. The smaller flux of reactive species to the liquid is in this case due to a less strong interaction of the plasma with the liquid. The formation of the nanoparticles was observed even at a distance of 6–7 mm below the tip of the plasma plume, conditions not favoring the injection of electrons.

In this work, we report on the flow effects induced by a nanosecond pulsed helium cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet impinging on a glass substrate. Gas temperature measurements have been performed using optical emission spectroscopy including rotational spectra of OH(A-X) (0,0) and N 2 (C-B) (0,0) and resonance broadening of a helium emission line at 667.8 nm. The measured increase in gas temperature was less than 15 K. We have measured the air concentration distribution in the jet effluent by means of Rayleigh scattering exploiting the large difference in Rayleigh cross-section of air and helium. The obtained results show that the plasma causes a broadening of the helium channel suggesting an enhanced gas velocity and mixing with the ambient air. The impact of the plasma on the jet effluent is polarity dependent and is larger in the case of positive applied voltage pulses. Using an estimation of the increased gas velocity required to obtain the observed air concentrations, we have shown that both gas heating and electrohydrodynamic (EHD) forces related to the propagation of an ionization front are not causing the observed phenomena. The surface charge which can exist for a much longer time than the duration of the applied voltage pulse is the primary cause of the EHD forces on the bulk charges which lead to significant different air concentration profiles in the jet effluent for plasma on and off.

The surface interaction of a well-characterized time modulated radio frequency (RF) plasma jet with polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(vinyl alcohol) as model polymers is investigated. The RF plasma jet shows fast polymer etching but mild chemical modification with a characteristic carbonate ester and NO formation on the etched surface. By varying the plasma treatment conditions including feed gas composition, environment gaseous composition, and treatment distance, we find that short lived species, especially atomic O for Ar/1% O 2 and 1% air plasma and OH for Ar/1% H 2 O plasma, play an essential role for polymer etching. For O 2 containing plasma, we find that atomic O initiates polymer etching and the etching depth mirrors the measured decay of O atoms in the gas phase as the nozzlesurface distance increases. The etching reaction probability of an O atom ranging from 10 −4 to 10 −3 is consistent with low pressure plasma research. We also find that adding O 2 and H 2 O simultaneously into Ar feed gas quenches polymer etching compared to adding them separately which suggests the reduction of O and OH density in Ar/O 2 /H 2 O plasma.

While plasma-liquid interactions have been an important focus in the plasma research community, the impact of the strong coupling between plasma and liquid on plasma properties and processes remains not fully understood. In this work, we report on the impact of the applied voltage, pulse width and liquid conductivity on the plasma morphology and the OH generation for a positive pulsed DC atmospheric pressure plasma jet with He-0.1% H2O mixture interacting with a liquid cathode. We adopted diagnostic techniques of fast imaging, 2D laser induced fluorescence (LIF) of OH and Thomson scattering spectroscopy. We show that plasma instabilities and enhanced evaporation occur and have a significant impact on the OH generation. At elevated plasma energies, it is found that the plasma contracts due to a thermal instability through Ohmic heating and the contraction coincides with a depletion in the OH density in the core due to electron impact dissociation. For lower plasma energies, the instability is suppressed/delayed by the equivalent series resistor of the liquid electrode. An estimation of the energy flux from the plasma to the liquid shows that the energy flux of the ions released into the liquid by positive ion hydration is dominant, and significantly larger than the energy needed to evaporate sufficient amount of water to account for the measured H2O concentration increase near the plasma-liquid interface.