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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Phys.
Sec. Low-Temperature Plasma Physics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2025.1592169
This article is part of the Research TopicState of the Art and Challenges in Non-equilibrium Plasma DiagnosticsView all articles
OH density and water vapor concentration gradients during plasma-droplet interactions
Provisionally accepted- University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, United States
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Plasma-droplet interactions significantly promote the reactivity transfer of gas phase species from the plasma to the liquid phase. Nonetheless, experimental studies on the impact of droplet evaporation on reactive species generation in such systems remain scarce. We report the spatial distribution of water vapor and OH radical densities around a droplet (~41 μm in diameter) in He and He-Ar plasma using laser-induced fluorescence. The results reveal a significant gradient in both water vapor and OH radical concentrations near the droplets. The number of droplets present in the plasma can lead to a significant accumulation of water vapor and even local quenching of the discharge. The findings are critical for developing a quantitative understanding of plasma-liquid interactions for a broad range of plasma-enabled applications in the liquid phase often involving OH radicals.
Keywords: Laser induced fluorescence (LIF), Plasma-liquid interaction, droplets, OH radical, Evaporation
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 17 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Nayak and Bruggeman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Peter J Bruggeman, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, United States
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