AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Plasma Science and Technology Division Wednesday Sessions
       Session PS+SS-WeM

Paper PS+SS-WeM5
Nitric Oxide Reactivity Investigation via Plasma Processing

Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 9:20 am, Room 202

Session: Plasma Surface Interactions (Fundamentals & Applications) I
Presenter: Joshua Blechle, Colorado State University
Authors: J.M. Blechle, Colorado State University
E.R. Fisher, Colorado State University
Correspondent: Click to Email
With increasing concern about environmental health, there is a greater need to investigate fundamental reactivity of pollutant species with and without the influence of surface effects. Here, inductively coupled plasmas are used to examine the catalyzed conversion of industrial exhaust, with an emphasis on elucidating the surface and gas-phase chemistry. Literature studies have thus far failed to explore the primary driving forces present in these catalytic plasma systems. The present work focuses on investigating the properties of nitric acid within plasmas formed from a collection of precursor gases including NO, NO2, N2O, and N2+O2. The behavior of the NO radical is determined by various methods that include catalytic surface reactivity measurements via the imaging of radicals interacting with surfaces (IRIS) technique as well as kinetic formation and destruction via time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy (TR-OES). Species density, surface scatter coefficients (S), along with vibrational and rotational temperatures establish inherent characteristics of NO. Results from these studies show the density of NO is strongly dependent on system pressure, which is in part attributable to formation of gas-phase dimers. In addition, S(NO) using non-catalytic surfaces (e.g. Si) increases with increasing plasma power. Additional results from studies of NO formation through bimolecular reactions in N2/O2 plasmas will be presented. Collectively, these data allow for unparalleled insight into the properties of atmospheric species during plasma processing and the interactions they undergo in the presence of catalytic substrates.