Experimental analysis of DBD plasma jet properties using different gases and two kinds of transfer plate

TL;DR

This study compares the properties of dielectric barrier discharge plasma jets generated with argon, helium, and nitrogen gases, examining how different gases and transfer plate materials influence plasma characteristics and energy transfer mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides a detailed experimental comparison of DBD plasma properties using various gases and transfer plates, highlighting differences in excitation, ionization, and vibrational temperature.

Findings

He plasmas show more significant nitrogen excitation and ionization.

Metastable helium atoms transfer more energy to N2 molecules.

Vibrational temperature in He plasmas is driven by metastable collisions.

Abstract

Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma jets has been studied extensively in recent years because of its wide range of applications. DBD plasmas can be produced using many different gases and can be applied to a broad variety of surfaces and substrates. In this work, we provide a comparison of DBD plasmas generated using argon (Ar), helium (He) and nitrogen (N2), as well as their mixtures with water vapor in order to know how some plasma properties are affected by the use of different gases. All plasmas were studied in two different conditions, using a transfer plate made of a conductive material and using a transfer plate made of an insulating one. We observed that the processes of excitation and ionization of nitrogen molecules by direct collisions with Ar or He are more evident and significant in He plasmas, which means that He atoms in metastable states have greater ability to transfer energy to molecules of nitrogen in the plasma. The collisions of He atoms in metastable states with N2 molecules determine the vibrational temperature (Tvib) values in He plasmas, while in Ar and N2 plasmas the Tvib values are determined mainly by collisions of electrons with N2 molecules.