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Influence of the Air Humidity on the Reduction of Bacillus Spores in a Defined Environment at Atmospheric Pressure Using a Dielectric Barrier Surface Discharge
Author(s) -
Hähnel Marcel,
von Woedtke Thomas,
Weltmann KlausDieter
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.200900076
Subject(s) - dielectric barrier discharge , relative humidity , atmospheric pressure , atmospheric pressure plasma , humidity , plasma , chemistry , dielectric , spore , nonthermal plasma , analytical chemistry (journal) , materials science , environmental chemistry , optoelectronics , microbiology and biotechnology , meteorology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
From literature different plasma species are known for their possibility to inactivate microorganisms. Most studies report on the inactivation of germs by UV light emitted from rare gas discharges like plasma‐jets or low pressure discharges or disruption of cell membranes due to charging effects. Our aim was to show the influence of air humidity and active plasma power in a simple atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier surface discharge on the reduction of Bacillus atrophaeus spores within a few minutes of treatment time. The plasma treatment time was varied at humidity levels between 0 and 70% relative moisture with a distance of 0.6 mm between the dielectric barrier and test strip. The obtained results have shown an influence of the air humidity on the spore inactivation rate which has been reached by plasma treatment. The plasma does not emit a significant amount of UV light below 320 nm. From these results the role of reactive species, especially the effect of hydroxyl radicals, is discussed.