Decontamination of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) agents using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ)

Abstract

The atmospheric pressure plasma jet ͑APPJ͒ ͓A. Schütze et al., IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 26, 1685 ͑1998͔͒ is a nonthermal, high pressure, uniform glow plasma discharge that produces a high velocity effluent stream of highly reactive chemical species. The discharge operates on a feedstock gas ͑e.g., He/O 2 /H 2 O͒, which flows between an outer, grounded, cylindrical electrode and an inner, coaxial electrode powered at 13.56 MHz rf. While passing through the plasma, the feedgas becomes excited, dissociated or ionized by electron impact. Once the gas exits the discharge volume, ions and electrons are rapidly lost by recombination, but the fast-flowing effluent still contains neutral metastable species ͑e.g., O 2 * , He*͒ and radicals ͑e.g., O, OH͒. This reactive effluent has been shown to be an effective neutralizer of surrogates for anthrax spores and mustard blister agent. Unlike conventional wet decontamination methods, the plasma effluent does not cause corrosion and it does not destroy wiring, electronics, or most plastics, making it highly suitable for decontamination of sensitive equipment and interior spaces. Furthermore, the reactive species in the effluent rapidly degrade into harmless products leaving no lingering residue or harmful by-products.

Electric and spectroscopic analysis of a pure nitrogen mono-filamentary dielectric barrier discharge (MF-DBD) at 760 Torr

“…Some of these applications concern photo-chemical treatment of water [Azrague K et al 2005, Gonzalez et al 2004, volatile organic compound (VOC) remediation [Biomorgi J et al 2005, Koutsospyros A et al 2004, biochemical decontamination and remediation of toxic gases [Herrman H W et al 1999], realisation of non-coherent vacuum ultraviolet (VUV: 100 nm < λ < 200 nm) or ultraviolet (UV: 200 nm < λ < 400 nm) sources [Kurunczi P et al 1999, Masoud N et al 2004, material deposition [Babayan S E et al 1998], H 2 generation for fuel cells and diesel reforming [Qiu H et al 2004, exhaust treatment [Dietz et al 2004] … As far as non-coherent radiation DBD sources are concerned, VUV sources are of topical interest for a variety of industrial purposes such as plasma processing [Kogelschatz U et al 1999], surface cleaning [Korfatis G et al 2002] and modification [Wagner H-E et al 2003, Borcia G et al 2003, sterilization, decontamination and medical care. Recently some emerging scientific investigations were performed in neon [Carman R J et al 2010].…”

Protein destruction by a helium atmospheric pressure glow discharge: Capability and mechanisms

“…The minimum protein residue after plasma treatment in our experiments was 35 femtomoles or 7.1 femtomoles/ mm 2 . It is possible to reduce this further using, for example, different gases, 6,7,20 different temporal features of the electrical excitation, 10,18,22 and indeed different APGD configurations. 5,23 A related issue is whether a minimum protein residue of 7.1 femtomoles/ mm 2 is acceptable for plasma-treated surgical instruments to be reused, and indeed what the acceptable minimum of protein residue may be.…”

“…Phys. 101, 074701 ͑2007͒ modes of the microorganism resistance to plasma treatment can be a result of many different factors including the cell wall, 4,6 phase of cell growth, 12 and cell stacking. 17 To understand the factors that contribute to the essentially biphasic kinetics of plasma protein reduction, we took fluorescence images of the FITC-labeled protein sample after different plasma treatment times.…”

“…So far, the bio-decontamination effect of APGD has been examined almost exclusively for microbial inactivation, in which case they have been shown comprehensively to be capable of inactivating wide-ranging microorganisms including the vegetative cells of yeast and bacteria, viruses, bacterial spores, and even biofilm-forming bacteria. [4][5][6][7][8] A great deal has been learned about how APGD inactivation depends on the plasma operating conditions 9,10 and the physiology of the microbial population. 11,12 These studies have helped establish convincingly the microbiocidal capability of APGD.…”

Protein destruction by atmospheric pressure glow discharges

“…Indeed encouraged by their potential as a bactericidal technique, 2 low-temperature gas discharges have been studied extensively for bacterial inactivation both in a vacuum chamber at low pressures [3][4][5][6] and in open air at atmospheric pressure. [7][8][9][10][11][12] Much has been learnt of the bactericidal capability and related physical mechanisms of low-temperature plasmas. 13 By contrast, there are very few reports on their ability to destruct proteinaceous matters [14][15][16] and all reported are limited to the use of vacuum plasmas.…”