NON-THERMAL FLOATING ELECTRODE-DBD-PLASMA: A NOVEL APPROACH TO CONTROL BACTERIA IN BIOFILMS

摘要

The non-thermal, room temperature electrical plasma discharge (also known as cold plasma) operates in open air, which is safe for treatment of fluids, and animate and inanimate surfaces (Am J Infect Control, 2010). Our floating electrode-DBD plasma (Plasma) system is constructed similarly to conventional dielectric barrier discharges, and is inherently non-thermal and able to operate at room temperature and pressure. This plasma operates under conditions where one of the electrodes is a dielectric-protected powered electrode, and the second electrode is a surface carrying organisms, in order to ignite the discharge of cold plasma. Plasma is being investigated for its applications in biology and medicine. Surface contamination by bacterial pathogens in the hospital is a major source of nosocomial infections, and existing methods alone are not sufficient to combat this. Here, we report the findings of plasma-mediated inactivation of E. coli in established biofilm forms, and significant prevention on such biofilms.