A direct‐current, cold‐atmospheric‐pressure air plasma microjet (PMJ) sustained in a quasi‐steady gas cavity in a liquid medium is used to inactivate Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) suspended in the liquid. The temperature and the pH value of the liquid change to steady‐state values of about 40 °C and 3.0–4.5, respectively, after 10 min of plasma treatment. The decrease in the pH is attributed to the reaction of NOx produced in the air plasma with water at the gas–liquid interface. The concentrations of NO 3− and NO 2− are measured to be 37 mg · L−1 and 21 mg · L−1, respectively, after a 20 min of plasma treatment. Effective inactivation of S. aureus is found to start after the pH values decreases to about 4.5. This is attributed to the high oxidizing potential of the perhydroxyl radical (HOO•) on the fatty acid in the cell membranes of the microorganisms in the liquid.

Hydroxyl radical (•OH) and singlet oxygen (1O2) were detected by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy in a direct current He/O2 (2%) non‐thermal plasma microjet‐water system. ${}^{ \bullet }{\rm O}_{{\rm 2}}^{- } $ is shown to be the precursor of •OH. The concentrations of 1O2 and •OH are evaluated to be around 6 × 10−4 and 1.2 × 10−5 M, respectively. The survival rates of S. aureus exposed to plasma for 20 s in 1 ml H2O, SOD (100 U, for scavenging ${}^{ \bullet }{\rm O}_{{\rm 2}}^{- } $), D‐Man (0.15 M, for scavenging •OH), and L‐His (0.15 M, for scavenging •OH and 1O2) solutions were 0.7, 1.6, 13.4, and 40.9%, respectively, indicating that 1O2 contributes the most to the inactivation.

A new lanthanum calcium borate with the composition La2CaB10O19 has been synthesized. Single crystals have been grown from a melt close to the stoichiometric composition. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group C2, with a = 11.043(3) Å, b = 6.563(2) Å, c = 9.129(2) Å, α = γ = 90°, β = 91.47°, and two formula units per cell. The crystal structure contains B5O12 double-ring pentaborate groups, which are linked together to form an infinite two-dimensional double layer. The layer runs almost perpendicular to the c axis of the crystal. The La atoms are located in layers, while the Ca atoms are located between two layers. La2CaB10O19 exhibits an optical second-harmonic generation effect about twice as large as that of KDP (KH2PO4).