The cold and atmospheric-pressure air surface barrier discharge plasma for large-area sterilization applications

This letter reports a stable air surface barrier discharge device for large-area sterilization applications at room temperature. This design may result in visually uniform plasmas with the electrode area scaled up (or down) to the required size. A comparison for the survival rates of Escherichia coli from air, N(2) and O(2) surface barrier discharge plasmas is presented, and the air surface plasma consisting of strong filamentary discharges can efficiently kill Escherichia coli. Optical emission measurements indicate that reactive species such as O and OH generated in the room temperature air plasmas play a significant role in the sterilization process. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3582923]