The special issue on chemical kinetics in non-equilibrium plasmas includes cutting edge research and the most recent developments in science and applications of plasma kinetics. This is a fast and permanently developing field of research with a constant need for periodical updates of the accumulated information. The aim of the special issue is to bring together plasma physicists from different countries to discuss experimental and theoretical approaches for studying plasma kinetics and chemistry. The issue combines the research conducted in the USA, Europe and Asia with a strong representation of Russian scientists, whose publications are often not readily available.
Collisional-radiative modelsCollision-radiative models of a low-temperature, non-equilibrium hydrogen plasma are described in the topical review by Shakhatov and Lebedev [1]. The authors give a chronological description and comparison of existing collision-radiative models of hydrogen non-equilibrium plasma. A semi-empirical 0D model developed by the authors comprises a large set of processes in hydrogen plasma and describes the kinetics of the population of the singlet and triplet states of hydrogen. This study is directly connected with the justification of diagnostics of non-equilibrium plasma by the method of optical emission spectroscopy.A complex 0D collisional-radiative model developed and experimentally validated by Plewa et al [2] was used to describe in detail the time evolution of the densities of all the species present in a non-equilibrium plasma generated in a background gas mixture H:O:C = 64:31:5. This realistic collisional-radiative model allows accurate description of the time evolution of the charged species densities and can be used with PIC simulations.
Elementary processes in non-equilibrium plasmasReactions of associative ionization with N( 2 P) atoms can play an important role and explain the 'memory effect' of anomalously long-lived plasma in the afterglow of nitrogen discharges. Salmon et al [3] present an experimental and computational study of the quenching rate of the metastable 2 P state of atomic nitrogen by nitrogen molecules. Two-dimensional N( 2 P) and N( 4 S) density profiles were measured by absolute optical emission spectroscopy inside a tube placed downstream of an atmospheric pressure pulsed discharge in nitrogen. The results were analyzed by means of a detailed kinetic model taking into account the major processes of production and depletion of N( 2 P). The quenching rates of the N( 2 P) atoms are of great importance for the modelling of nitrogen plasma, especially due to the role of N( 2 P) associative ionization in the lifetime of charged species in the afterglow.Memory effect investigation is the focus of the work by Tyl et al [4]. The authors study the origin of the memory effect in atmospheric pressure Townsend discharges in nitrogen/oxidizing gas mixtures. For this purpose, they use a plane-to-plane dielectric barrier discharge. The experimental comparison of the current jump with two different gas gaps i...