A Comprehensive Study on the Disinfection Performance of Four Representative Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Sources
摘要
In this study, air transient spark discharge (Air-TSD) plasma, helium atmospheric pressure plasma jet (He-APPJ), air surface dielectric barrier discharge (Air-SDBD) plasma, and nitrogen micro hollow cathode discharge (N2-MHCD) plasma were used to inactivate Escherichia coli (E. coli). The results showed that Air-SDBD plasma achieved a 6-log reduction of E. coli in 30 s, whereas the other three sources failed to achieve complete inactivation even after the treatment of 120 s. The concentrations of aqueous H2O2, NO2− and NO3− produced by Air-SDBD are 2–3 times higher than those of Air-TSD and He-APPJ. The concentration of O3 produced by Air-SDBD is more than 4 times that of N2-MHCD. To further explore the relationship between RONS produced by the four sources and E. coli inactivation, we analyzed the effects of the four sources on 12 representative amino acids. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC–MS) analysis showed that amino acids, including phenylalanine (Phe), methionine (Met), tryptophan (Trp), tyrosine (Tyr), glutamic (Glu), lysine (Lys), histidine (His), arginine (Arg), and cysteine (Cys), underwent significant oxidation after treatment of the four sources. And the reduction of Met, Trp and Cys after Air-SDBD treatment was more pronounced compared to the other three sources. Our results indicates that a strong correlation exists between the inactivation of E. coli and the modification of amino acids by RONS.