Mechanisms of Interaction of Cold Plasma with Bacteria

In this paper, evaluation of the bacterial inactivation kinetics and the roles of the various plasma agents in the inactivation process will be outlined. In particular, measurements of the plasma temperature, the UV emission, and concentrations of various reactive species (O3, O, OH...) for the special case of air plasma are presented. In addition, the effects of charged particles on bacterial cells are discussed. In this case the cells are modeled as dielectric dust-like particles the surface of which is charged when in contact with the plasma. This charging effect was found to have the potential of causing cell disruption in gram-negative bacteria.