Bacterial spore inactivation by atmospheric-pressure plasmas in the presence or absence of UV photons as obtained with the same gas mixture

This paper comprises two main parts: a review of the literature on atmospheric-pressure discharges used for micro-organism inactivation, focused on the inactivation mechanisms, and a presentation of our research results showing, in particular, that UV photons can be the dominant species in the inactivation process. The possibility of achieving spore inactivation through UV radiation using an atmospheric-pressure discharge or its flowing afterglow is the object of a continuing controversy. In fact, the review of the literature that we present shows that a majority of researchers have come to the conclusion that, at atmospheric pressure, chemically reactive species such as free radicals, metastable atoms and molecules always control the inactivation process, while UV photons play only a minor role or no role at all. In contrast, only a few articles suggest or claim that UV photons coming from atmospheric-pressure discharges can, in some cases, inactivate micro-organisms, but the experimental data presented and the supporting arguments brought forward in that respect are relatively incomplete. Using a dielectric-barrier discharge operated at atmospheric pressure in an N-2-N2O mixture, we present, for the first time, experiments where micro-organisms are subjected to plasma conditions such that, on the one hand, UV radiation is strong or, on the other hand, there is no UV radiation, the two different situations being obtained with the same experimental arrangement, including the same gas mixture, N-2-N2O. To achieve maximum UV radiation, the concentration of the oxidant molecule (N2O) added to N-2 needs to be tuned carefully, resulting then in the fastest inactivation rate. The concentration range of the oxidant molecule in the mixture for which the UV intensity is significant is extremely narrow, a fact that possibly explains why such a mode of plasma sterilization was not readily observed. The survival curves obtained under dominant UV radiation conditions are, as we show, akin to those recorded at reduced pressure. Relatively fast spore inactivation can also be obtained under no UV radiation as a result of radicals diffusing deeply inside the spores, leading to oxidative lethal damage.