Review on plasmas in extraordinary media: plasmas in cryogenic conditions and plasmas in supercritical fluids

Abstract

Plasma science and technology has enabled advances in very diverse fields: micro-and nanotechnology, chemical synthesis, materials fabrication and, more recently, biotechnology and medicine. While many of the currently employed plasma tools and technologies are very advanced, the types of plasmas used in micro-and nanofabrication pose certain limits, for example, in treating heat-sensitive materials in plasma biotechnology and plasma medicine. Moreover, many physical properties of plasmas encountered in nature, and especially outer space, i.e. very-low-temperature plasmas or plasmas that occur in high-density media, are not very well understood. The present review gives a short account of laboratory plasmas generated under 'extreme' conditions: at cryogenic temperatures and in supercritical fluids. The fundamental characteristics of these cryogenic plasmas and cryoplasmas, and plasmas in supercritical fluids, especially supercritical fluid plasmas, are presented with their main applications. The research on such exotic plasmas is expected to lead to further understanding of plasma physics and, at the same time, enable new applications in various technological fields.

Low Temperature Plasma for Astrochemistry: Toward a Further Understanding with Continuous and Precise Temperature Control

“…12). The temperature control can be achieved using a cryostat-equipped temperature control system, by limiting the plasma geometry to less than approximately 1 mm, and limiting the discharge current to minimize the heating of the plasma [105]. A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), in a plasma jet configuration (see Fig.…”

Dusty Plasmas in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

“…The generation of nonthermal plasmas in SCF is challenging, because the pressure is so high that applying higher voltage is necessary based on Paschen's law. The discharge plasmas in SCFs have been successfully generated by employing electrodes with a gap on the order of micrometers [20]. The possibilities of the plasmas in SCF for application to carbon nanomaterial syntheses and unique phenomena, such as a large decrease of breakdown voltage near the critical point, were shown [21].…”

Modelling and Simulation of Microplasma Discharge Device for Sterilization Applications

“…However, by operating MDDs in atmospheric air, the devices are exposed to varying ambient conditions including dynamic temperature and pressure changes. These changes influence the electron density (ED) and electron mobility (EM) across the MDDs, which could result in unstable and non-uniform distribution of microplasma discharge [4]. In this study, the effects of varying voltage, and ambient conditions such as temperature and pressure across the MDD electrode gap is investigated using finite element analysis (FEA).…”