ECLIPSE/Collaborative Research: Unravelling the Coupled Physics of Piezoelectric and Plasma Behavior in Piezoelectric Stimulated Plasma Sources

该奖项将使压电等离子体放电的大气压等离子体的基础研究。 大气压非热等离子体的应用-其具有高反应性并且可用于从水净化和清洁能源技术到灭菌的应用范围-有时会受到其操作需要外来的、昂贵的或庞大的电子器件和电路的限制。压电材料可以通过使用机械运动来产生等离子体形成压电受激等离子体源来放松对高端电源的需求。压电受激等离子体源的关键特征是压电材料能够具有高电压增益并且具有高介电常数，使得能够在压电表面处直接形成等离子体。目前对压电材料和等离子体之间相互作用的理解是非常有限的，并且关于固相压电和等离子体过程的动力学之间的耦合的基本问题还没有回答。该研究项目将提供对等离子体科学新领域的理解，这些领域可以转化为传感器，生物医学，化学，流体动力学和材料应用。 因此，南卡罗来纳州大学和圣母大学之间的这一合作项目得到了ECosystem for Leading Innovation in Plasma Science and Engineering（ECLIPSE）计划的支持。通过结合和凝聚的建模和实验工作，将推进对压电激励等离子体源的基本理解。一个新的多物理建模框架，基准实验，将开发解决固相压电材料和气相等离子体在一个完全集成的方式，目前还没有。在基础水平上的理解将有助于推进对等离子体-表面相互作用的理解，这对各种等离子体设备都很重要。这一努力的成果预计将是压电激励非热等离子体放电预测建模和变革知识的重大飞跃，通过重点虚拟研讨会，基于YouTube的压电直接等离子体放电短视频模块，以及学生交流和外展活动，以激发下-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

This award will enable a foundational study of atmospheric pressure plasmas in piezoelectric plasma discharges. The application of atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasmas – which are highly reactive and can be used for applications ranging from water purification and clean energy technology to sterilization – can at times be limited by requiring exotic, expensive, or bulky electronics and circuits for their operation. Piezoelectric materials could relax the need for high-end power supplies by using mechanical motion to produce the plasma forming piezoelectric stimulated plasma sources. The key feature of a piezoelectric stimulated plasma source is that the piezoelectric material is capable of high voltage gain and possesses high dielectric permittivity, enabling direct formation of a plasma at the piezoelectric surface. Current understanding of the interaction between piezoelectric materials and plasmas is very limited and there are unanswered fundamental questions about the coupling between the dynamics of the solid phase piezoelectric and plasma processes. The research project will provide understanding of a new area of plasma science that can be translated to sensor, biomedical, chemical, fluid dynamics, and materials applications. As such, this collaborative project between the University of South Carolina and the University of Notre Dame is being supported under the ECosystem for Leading Innovation in Plasma Science and Engineering (ECLIPSE) program.Fundamental understanding of piezoelectric stimulated plasma sources will be advanced through combined and cohesive modeling and experimental efforts. A new multi-physics modeling framework, benchmarked against experiments, will be developed that resolves both the solid phase piezoelectric material and gas phase plasma in a fully integrated fashion that is currently not available. Understanding at a fundamental level will help advance the understanding of plasma-surface interactions that is important to a large variety of plasma devices. The outcomes of this effort are expected to be a major leap in predictive modeling and transformative knowledge on piezoelectric stimulated non-thermal plasma discharges, outreach to the global plasma community through focused virtual workshops, YouTube-based short video modules on piezoelectric direct plasma discharges, and student exchange and outreach activities to inspire under-represented students and the general public towards STEM.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.