Low-temperature fabric dielectric barrier discharge devices
AssigneeThe Trustees of Princeton University
InventorsSophia Gershman, Yevgeny Raitses, Shurik Yatom, Phillip Efthimion
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Abstract
A fabric dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) device, a textile material comprising interconnected insulated conductive fibers can be used to generate a cold homogenous plasma by forming a discharge path from a conductive core of a first fiber, to a dielectric layer surrounding the conductive core, through an air gap towards, e.g., a second fiber or human skin. When the plasma that lights in and around the air gap comes into contact with a contaminated surface (containing, e.g., bacteria and/or viruses), it induces reactive species to form on the contaminated surface, and the reactive species are then allowed to kill the bacteria and/or viruses.
Claims18
A fabric dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) device, comprising:
- a plurality of fibers forming an interconnected woven mesh of fibers, where each individual fiber of the plurality of fibers independently includes a conductive core surrounded by a first dielectric layer;
- and
- a power supply operably connected to the one or more fibers, the power supply configured such that plasma is capable of lighting in air gaps of ≤10 μm formed between fibers when current is applied.
A method for sterilizing surfaces, comprising:
- providing a fabric dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) device comprising:
- a plurality of fibers forming an interconnected woven mesh of fibers, where each individual fiber of the plurality of fibers independently includes a conductive core surrounded by a first dielectric layer;
- and
- a power supply operably connected to the one or more fibers, the power supply configured such that plasma is capable of lighting in air gaps formed between one or more fibers when current is applied, each air gap being ≤10 μm;
- generating a cold homogenous plasma by forming a discharge path from a conductive core of a first fiber of the plurality of fibers, to at least one dielectric layer surrounding the conductive core of the first fiber, through an air gap towards a second fiber of the plurality of fibers or a human being;
- inducing reactive species to form on a contaminated surface by contacting the contaminated surface with the generated cold homogenous plasma, the contaminated surface containing bacteria, viruses, or a combination thereof;
- and
- allowing the reactive species to kill the bacteria, viruses, or combination thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.