Non-thermal plasma has emerged as an effective treatment system against the latest class of highly recalcitrant and toxic environmental pollutants termed emerging contaminants (ECs). In the present work, a detailed experimental study is carried out to evaluate the efficacy of a non-thermal plasma jet with two dyes, Rd. B and Met. Blue, as model contaminants. The plasma jet provided a complete dye decoloration in 30 min with an applied voltage of 6.5 kV_p−p. ·OH, having the highest oxidation potential, acts as the main reactive species, which with direct action on contaminants also acts indirectly by getting converted into H₂O₂ and O₃. Further, the effect of critical operational parameters viz, sample pH, applied voltage (4.5‒6.5 kV_p−p), conductivity (5‒20 mS cm⁻¹), and sample distance on plasma treatment efficacy was also examined. Out of all the assessed parameters, the applied voltage and sample conductivity was found to be the most significant operating parameters. A high voltage and low conductivity favored the dye decoloration, while the pH effect was not that significant. To understand the influence of plasma discharge gas on treatment efficacy, all the experiments are conducted with argon and helium gases under the fixed geometrical configuration. Both the gases provided a similar dye decoloration efficiency. The DBD plasma system with complete dye removal also rendered maximum mineralization of 73% for Rd. B, and 60% for Met. Blue. Finally, the system’s efficiency against the actual ECs (four pharmaceutical compounds, viz, metformin, atenolol, acetaminophen, and ranitidine) and microbial contaminant (E. coli) was also tested. The system showed effectivity in the complete removal of targeted pharmaceuticals and a log2.5 E. coli reduction. The present systematic characterization of dye degradation could be of interest to large communities working towards commercializing plasma treatment systems.

Atmospheric pressure plasma jets with cross-field electrode configuration are a potential jet design for gases with high breakdown fields. This study focuses on the effect of an additional floating electrode on the cross-field plasma jet properties. Detailed experiments are done with the additional floating electrodes of different widths introduced below the ground electrode in a plasma jet with a cross-field electrode configuration. It is observed that in the presence of an additional floating electrode in the jet propagation path, less applied power is needed for the plasma jet to cross the nozzle and jet length increases. This threshold power, as well as the maximum jet length, depends on the electrode widths. A detailed analysis of charge dynamics in the presence of an additional floating electrode shows decrement in the net charge transferred radially to the external circuit through the ground electrode, and an increment in the net charge transferred axially. Increment in the optical emission intensity of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, as well as the relative yield of ions like N $$^{+}$$+ , O $$^{+}$$+ , OH $$^{+}$$+ , NO $$^{+}$$+ , O $$^{-}$$- , and OH $$^{-}$$- in the plasma plume, that are crucial for biomedical applications suggest an improvement in the reactivity of plasma plume in the presence of additional floating electrode.

The properties of a magnetized multi-component (two species of positive ions, negative ions and electrons) plasma sheath with finite positive ion temperature are studied. By using three fluid hydrodynamic model and some dimensionless variables, the ion (both lighter and heavier positive ions, and negative ions) densities, the ion (only for positive ions) velocities, and electric potential inside the sheath are investigated. In addition, the absence and presence of magnetic field and the orientation of magnetic field are considered. It is noticed that, with increase of positive ion temperature, the lighter positive ion density peaks increase only at the sheath edge and shift towards the sheath edge for both absence and presence of magnetic field. For heavier positive ions, in the absence of magnetic field, the density peaks increase at the sheath edge. But in the presence of magnetic field, the density fluctuations increase at the sheath edge. For both the cases, the density peaks shift towards the sheath edge.

The rise in multidrug-resistant (MDR) ESKAPE bacteria have become a major therapeutic challenge globally. Recently, novel cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) as an antimicrobial is becoming popular. In this study, an indigenously developed AC cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet (CAPJ) fed with argon gas was used to evaluate its antimicrobial efficacy on these bacteria isolated from clinical specimens such as urine, blood, and sputum in a tertiary care hospital in India. The difference in CAP’s antimicrobial activity on Gram-negative bacilli (MDR E. coli) and Grampositive cocci (MDR S. aureus) was observed with various input parameters, such as microbial concentration, CAP exposure time, and exposure distance. It was observed that oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (O2-, NO+, OH., H2O2, ONOO-, NO., NO2., HO2., O3-,etc.) and electrostatic stress by ions (Ar+, O+, O2-, OH-, NO+,OH+, NO3-, NO2-, O3-, etc.) might play a crucial role in microbial inactivation. In addition to this, a decrease in adenosine triphosphate concentration post-CAP exposure in a liquid media suggested an efficient microbial inactivation effect. The outcome of this research would be extremely beneficial to multidisciplinary researchers in this field.

The article reports the excitation of a helical argon atmospheric pressure plasma jet using a pulse-modulated 13.56 MHz radio frequency (RF) power source. This helical structure is observed in open ambient air, which is far different from the conventional conical shape. This helical structure originates due to the periodic pressure variation in the discharge region caused by pulse-modulated RF (2 kHz modulation frequency) and propagates downstream into the ambient air. The geometrical characteristics of the observed structure are explored using optical imaging. Moreover, the influence of various input parameters, viz., duty cycle, gas flow rate, and RF power, of the modulated pulse on the formation of a helical structure are studied. These helical structures have an implication on the plasma jet chemical features (enhancement of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species) as these are involved in an increase in air entrainment into the ionization region desired for various plasma applications.