Technology that helps fast decontamination of specific spaces with plasma

When decontaminating indoors or objects contaminated with bacteria, etc., it should be washed with a detergent such as alcohol or bleach. However, with this wet method, you have to wait until it is completely dry after decontaminating the overgrown.

A team at Michigan Tech developed a magic wand-like device that emits cold plasma and developed a method to decontaminate in a dry state. Cold plasma exposing gases such as air to a very high electric field removes electrons from the exposed object atoms and destroys the molecular structure. The research team explains that oxygen-based ions generated by releasing atoms and electrons completed in this reaction from the tip of a thin tube can pull carbon out of bacterial or viral cell walls or protein shells and destroy them.

This plasma can kill germs and viruses, but it is safe for humans, as it takes tens of seconds to destroy hand cells, even if it touches human hands. In addition, it is said that adding highly effective chemicals such as specific viruses to the gas generating plasma can effectively cope with bacteria and viruses that are subject to decontamination.

The research team is considering a portable plasma decontamination device and is already working on a prototype with a grant from NSF, the National Science Foundation. First, it checks the molecule fragments that are easy to react in the plasma and checks whether it is effective against pathogens. If it becomes possible to control plasma to kill various kinds of pathogens, we plan to target product approval using this concept.

However, it will still take a year or more to be able to use this technology to some extent. It is not yet known whether the spread of Corona 19 should be stopped by that time, but if it is not too late, it could be a technique for preparing for the next infection. In some cases, it may be practically used as a device that quickly decontaminates densely gathered spaces such as hospitals, aircraft, buses, and trains using the method described at the beginning. Related information can be found here .