Nitric oxide generated by atmospheric pressure air microplasma

The production of atmospheric pressure air microplasma jet requires no vacuum devices and it uses air gas, which considerably reduces the investment cost. Atmospheric pressure microplasma jets have recently been used for industrial and medical applications, such as local dental treatment, inner surface treatment of capillaries, stimuli of microorganisms, and local cleaning of semiconductor devices. The other advantage of the atmospheric pressure air microplasma jet is its capability to irradiate plasma to a narrow area. It is also ultra-portable and can be miniaturized easily. In the recent years, several investigators have reported that plasma irradiation on a wound improved and accelerated the wound healing process. Nitric oxide (NO) content of the microplasma jet is believed to help the wound healing. Therefore, in this research quantitative measurements of NO have been performed. Beside NO generation, the microplasma jet produces toxic and pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and ozone gases. The quantities of the generated NO₂ and ozone have been measured and evaluated. In order to produce the highest quantity of the NO gas, the design and performance parameters of the microplasma jet, such as inner gap and gas flow rate, have been changed and their effects on the NO generation have been investigated. The results are used to optimize the characteristics of the air microplasma jet for medical applications.