An improved ionizer for atmospheric plasmas

Summary form only given, as follows. We have just received a United States Patent, 5592357, "Electrostatic charging apparatus and method", for creating dense atmospheric ion plasmas. The idea is to create positive and negative ions by means of DC or AC corona points, and to combine them into an atmospheric plasma. The new idea is to surround each corona point with a localized cloud of non-electron absorbing gas, such as nitrogen or argon. The ions then migrate from the formation region to form a large volume of air plasma. The use of the localized gas flow results in a plasma density increase of ten. We have created up to 10 exp 16 ions per cubic meter. We also have developed new diagnostic methods for use in these plasmas. The original objective of this work was to electrostatically charge plastic cloth to form electrets that last for several years. These act as excellent dust filters. However, other possible applications include surface and volume sterilization by the ions (free radicals), and removal of atmospheric pollutants.