Characterization of Novel Flexible Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge Electrodes for the Purpose of In-Package Microbe Deactivation on the Surface of Fresh Produce

Surface dielectric barrier discharges have been gaining interest due to applications in flow control, plasma medicine, and food processing. A low-cost flexible electrode has been developed which allows in-package plasma treatment of fresh produce.[1] Plasma treatment was shown to deactivate microbes both in vitro and on the surface of cut white mushrooms. The operation parameters of these electrodes were also extensively analyzed. Voltage and current measurements were performed and an adapted SDBD circuit model was used to determine plasma power, dielectric capacitance, and plasma resistance. The capacitance of the on-cycle measurements increases linearly with applied voltage and plasma resistance decreases with increasing voltage. Different electrode geometries were used and it was found that the plasma power increases linearly with respect to plasma perimeter. Optical emission spectroscopy was used to determine the reduced electric field using a collisional radiative model [2]. The reduced electric field was determined to be constant with increasing voltage but varied based on electrode geometry. Finally, ICCD imaging was used to visualize the plasma extent within the positive and negative halfwave of the discharge.

[1] A. D. Mazzeo et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 14 (2019)

[2] Kogelheide et al. Plasma Processes and Polymers, 2019.