AUTHOR=de Oliveira Mallia Jefferson , Griffin Sholeem , Buttigieg Clara , Gatt Ruben TITLE=A rapid prototyped atmospheric non-thermal plasma-activated aerosol device and anti-bacterial characterisation JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry VOLUME=12 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2024.1416982 DOI=10.3389/fchem.2024.1416982 ISSN=2296-2646 ABSTRACT=
Non-plasma technologies are being extensively investigated for their potential to mitigate microbial growth through the production of various reactive species. Predominantly, studies utilise atmospheric non-thermal plasma to produce plasma-activated liquids. The advancement of plasma-liquid applications has led to the investigation of plasma-activated aerosols (PAAs). This study aimed to produce a rapid-prototyped plasma-activated aerosol setup and perform chemical and anti-bacterial characterisation on the resultant activated aerosols. The setup was produced using stereolithography 3D printing, and air was used as the carrier gas. The novel design of the device allowed for the direct production of PAAs without the prior generation of plasma-activated water and subsequent aerosolisation. The generated PAAs were assessed for nitrite, hydrogen peroxide and ozone content using colourimetric assays. Anti-bacterial efficacy was tested against three human pathogenic strains: