| AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Plasma Science and Technology Division | Monday Sessions |
| Session PS+AS+SE-MoM |
| Session: | Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas |
| Presenter: | Selma Mededovic Thagard, Clarkson University |
| Authors: | S. Mededovic Thagard, Clarkson University M. Vasilev, Clarkson University D. Bohl, Clarkson University P. Conlon, Clarkson University |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Plasmas formed directly in and contacting a liquid are powerful sources of reactive radicals, ions and high-energy electrons and have been successfully used to sterilize water and fruit juices, purify water, synthesize materials and nanoparticles, and for applications in plasma medicine, electrical transmission, and polymer surface treatment. Nevertheless, despite the obvious versatility in processing capabilities, the optimization and broader application of electrical discharge plasmas in and contacting a liquid have been limited due to a general lack of understanding of the underlying physical and chemical processes occurring at the plasma-liquid interface. Despite the significant progress that has been made towards understanding interfacial chemistry of plasmas in the last decade or so (especially for air plasmas contacting water), relative contributions of plasma processes such as formation and diffusion of reactive species and bulk liquid processes such as electrohydrodynamic flow to interfacial dynamics have not been yet determined.
This work investigates the extent to which bulk liquid processes, primarily bulk liquid composition and plasma-induced electrohydrodynamic flow control the rates of chemical reactions at a plasma-liquid interface. We have determined the efficacy of the plasma process for treatment of a wide range of different compounds and used the results of this investigation to construct a model to predict the approximate treatability of any compound based on just a few of the compound’s physical properties. Experiments with different initial bulk liquid concentrations of non-surfactant and surfactant compounds have also been performed to investigate how interfacial compound concentration affects its removal rate. Particle Image Velocimetry has been used to quantify the surface velocity of a liquid as a function of its chemical composition.