Electrical Diagnostics of Dielectric Barrier Discharges

Abstract

Atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) has many industrial applications and remains a focus of academic research. This chapter provides a thorough overview of electrical diagnostics for DBD, with a specific focus on charge-voltage measurement techniques. These methods are often underutilised in the existing scientific literature, despite the fact that they can provide useful insights into plasma behaviour. Both optimization of the electrical measurement setup and the interpretation of results are treated in-depth. The diagnostic techniques are discussed for a range of applications, from classic planar DBDs, to catalyst packed beds, plasma actuators, as well as techniques for measuring single microdischarges.

Deciphering the synergy between plasma and catalyst support for ammonia synthesis in a packed dielectric barrier discharge reactor

“…Lastly, these materials have various chemical properties -CaO and MgO are basic while Al2O3 and TiO2 are acidic that was also reported to affect ammonia plasma synthesis [24]. The height and the number of spikes observed (Figure 1) depend strongly on the packing material, in agreement with literature for DBD [48]. The empty reactor (no packing) clearly demonstrates typical filamentary discharges as also reported by Mei et al [49] and Patil et al [34].…”

“…This may be due to the sharp edges of the quartz wool that localize filament ignition [34,49]. Similarly, packing with quartz wool can be thought of as subdividing the discharge volume into many separate small discharge gaps, for which the number of filaments increases significantly as gas gaps become thinner [48]. These effects justify the intense plasma emission observed for the reactor packed with quartz wool (Figure S6), which is in good agreement with Patil et al and Gallon et al [34,51] studied for other reactions.…”

TiO2 thin film patterns prepared by chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition using an atmospheric pressure microplasma printer

“…The contrast in the roughness of TiO 2 films deposited on c‐Si and glass substrates can be likely explained by the difference in charge distribution on conductive and dielectric surfaces in atmospheric pressure electric discharges. Deposited charge on the surface of a dielectric is known to be nonuniform . Increasing the surface conductivity can result in a more uniform distribution of charges over the surface and therefore to an enhancement in stability and uniformity of plasma .…”

Catalyst-assisted DBD plasma for coupling of methane: Minimizing carbon-deposits by structured reactors

“…The stainless-steel rod of 1.6 mm in diameter as high-voltage (HV) electrode was placed in the center of the quartz reactor, resulting in a gap of 1.2 mm between the HV electrode and the inner wall of the reactor. The discharge power in the reactor was calculated from Q-V Lissajous plots [49,50]. The data were collected by a high voltage probe (TESTEC TT-HVP15 HF) and a 3.9 nF capacitor and a probe linked to the grounded electrode (TESTEC TT-HV 250) both connected to an oscilloscope (Pico Scope 2000 series) as is illustrated in Fig.…”