In this laboratory students engage in research projects on plasma diagnostics and applications. Gas discharge plasmas are environments where radiation, ions, electrons, and reactive radicals are present in appreciable quantities simultaneously. Plasmas are classified as the fourth state of matter, after solids, liquids and gases.
Plasma Diagnostics: Students will use optical spectroscopy to study different plasma characteristics such as plasma composition and plasma temperatures.
Plasma applications:
Sterilization: Conventional methods of killing bacteria (such as antibiotics, sterilization by heat, sterilization by chemical processes and UV radiation) cannot be applied in all circumstances, and furthermore are generally ineffective with bacterial biofilms. The limitations of these conventional sterilization methods stimulated the development of alternative techniques. The use of plasmas offers a very promising and more widely applicable alternative to conventional sterilization methods as plasmas contain a mixture of charged particles, chemically reactive species produced by plasma chemical reactions, and UV radiation all of which have been shown to destroy bacteria. In this laboratory students will study systematically the synergistic effects of the simultaneous and/or sequential effect of radiation, ions, electrons, and reactive radicals on selected microorganisms in lethal as well as in sub-lethal doses.
Plasma cleaning of metal surfaces: Students will investigate the use of plasma for surface cleaning. The cleaning of metal surfaces such as Al (or stainless steel) both during manufacturing and prior to their use in specific applications (such as painting) has been a significant challenge for industry. The plasma process offers several advantages over conventional chemical cleaning methods. Plasma provides a low temperature environment using electrical energy to promote chemical reactions rather than heat. Plasma also eliminates the dangers associated with wet chemistry and has the major advantage over other cleaning methods because there is no liquid waste, hence no expensive disposal.
