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Bactericidal Effects of Plasma Induced Reactive Species in Dielectric Barrier Gas–Liquid Discharge

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Abstract

An atmospheric helium dielectric barrier discharge is used to treat Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) to study plasma bacteria inactivation in the gas–liquid phase. Optical emission spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and spectrophotometry are used to analyze the products induced by the plasma in the liquid as well as interactions between the liquid products and bacteria. The bactericidal mechanisms associated with the liquid products and different treatment protocols are investigated. The short-lived reactive species produce efficient inactivation effects in the direct plasma treatment and long-lived reactive species show continuous residual bactericidal effects. Additionally, even the minor initial damage caused by direct plasma exposure promotes the residual inactivation effect. After the discharge treatment for 1, 3, 5, and 8 min, the initial damage causes residual bacterial inactivation of 9.3, 37.2, 81.8, and 86.7%, respectively. Meanwhile, the discharge time and storage time in the different treatment processes can be optimized to achieve better bactericidal efficiency and energy efficiency. The results provide insights into the future development of plasma medicine and water purification.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported jointly by the Science Foundation of Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences No. DSJJ-14-YY02, National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 11475174, Natural Science Research Project of Anhui Province University No. KJ2015A327, as well as Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) General Research Funds (GRF) No. CityU 11301215.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China

    Zelong Zhang, Jun Wei, Qiang Sun, Shulou Qian & Weidong Xia

  2. Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. O. Box 1126, Hefei, 230031, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng Cheng, Yan Lan, Guohua Ni, Jie Shen & Yuedong Meng

  3. Center of Medical Physics and Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng Cheng, Yan Lan, Guohua Ni & Jie Shen

  4. School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China

    Zimu Xu

  5. School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China

    Hao Zhang

  6. Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng Cheng & Paul K. Chu

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  1. Zelong Zhang
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  2. Zimu Xu
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  3. Cheng Cheng
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  4. Jun Wei
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  5. Yan Lan
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  7. Qiang Sun
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  8. Shulou Qian
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  9. Hao Zhang
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  10. Weidong Xia
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  11. Jie Shen
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  12. Yuedong Meng
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  13. Paul K. Chu
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Correspondence to Weidong Xia, Jie Shen or Paul K. Chu.

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Zhang, Z., Xu, Z., Cheng, C. et al. Bactericidal Effects of Plasma Induced Reactive Species in Dielectric Barrier Gas–Liquid Discharge. Plasma Chem Plasma Process 37, 415–431 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-017-9784-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-017-9784-z

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