ECLIPSE: CAS-Climate: Understanding the Role of Thermally-Driven Processes in Pattern Formation and Droplet Emission in DC Glows with Applications to Water Treatment

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This award enables study of plasma-liquid interactions which could be exploited for plasma treatment of water at atmospheric pressure. Applications of atmospheric pressure plasmas, which are plasmas produced in regular air, range from water treatment to CO2 abatement to medicine. For water treatment and medical applications, it is important to understand how these plasmas interact with water. Such interactions create highly reactive species that can transform electrical energy into chemical energy to drive the decomposition of toxic chemicals in drinking water or the disinfection of bacteria and viral particles on contaminated surfaces. This research activity aims to understand the plasma-liquid interaction and investigate the physics of the plasma contact area associated with processes such as self-organization. This research is expected to provide insight for scale-up for applications such as water treatment through the control of the plasma liquid contact area and reactive species delivery through self-organization. As such, this project is being supported under the ECosystem for Leading Innovation in Plasma Science and Engineering (ECLIPSE) program.The project will investigate the one atmosphere DC glow with liquid anode as a test bed to understand the complex plasma-liquid interface and demonstrate understanding and control over the contact area. This discharge is of interest because the anode attachment can self-organize, thereby changing the spatial distribution and size of the contact area - a key energy and mass transfer channel between plasma and liquid. The role of thermal processes such as evaporation that appear to play a key role in discharge operation will be explored. This discharge is also a source of solvated electrons and liquid derived high-speed droplets, some of which contain nanoparticles. Using advanced optical diagnostics, the goal is to understand the constrained dynamical variables associated with self-organization and the importance of thermal transport in discharge maintenance. This, in turn, will lead to improved understanding of the physics and chemistry of the plasma-liquid interface.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.