Design and characteristics investigation of a miniature low-temperature plasma spark discharge device

Abstract

Atmospheric pressure low-temperature plasma is a promising tool in biomedicine applications including blood coagulation, bacterial inactivation, sterilization, and cancer treatment, due to its high chemical activity and limited thermal damage. It is of great importance to develop portable plasma sources that are safe to human touch and suitable for outdoor and household operation. In this work, a portable and rechargeable low-temperature plasma spark discharge device (130 mm×80 mm× 35 mm, 300 g) was designed. The discharge frequency and plume length were optimized by the selection of resistance, capacitance, electrode gap, and ground electrode aperture. Results show that the spark plasma plume is generated with a length of 12 mm and a frequency of 10 Hz at a capacitance of 0.33 μF, resistance of 1 MΩ, electrode gap of 2 mm, and ground electrode aperture of 1.5 mm. Biological tests indicate that the plasma produced by this device contains abundant reactive species, which can be applied in plasma biomedicine, including daily sterilization and wound healing.

Applications of atmospheric pressure plasma in microbial inactivation and cancer therapy: a brief review

“…This kind of plasma jet needs to be powered by batteries because of the working airflow, which requires relatively high battery capacity. Li et al generated pulsed high voltage by battery power and produced rapid thermal expansion in the reaction chamber by spark discharge, thus producing airflow, and the plasma in the spark discharge area was then pushed out of the nozzle to form a plasma jet [61]. The advantage of this method is that it reduces the module of generating airflow by electricity as well as the weight of the whole device to only 300 g. In addition, this kind of plasma jet can safely make contact with the human body and achieve fast microbial inactivation in a short time.…”