Inactivation Characteristics of Bacteria in Capacitively Coupled Argon Plasma

Plasma technology is being focused on the medical, food, and pharmaceutical fields for sterilization applications. The sterilizing effect of the 13.56-MHz radio-frequency (RF) plasma generated by using argon gas was studied using Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most common pathogens liable to hospital-acquired infections. The major focus of this paper was to perform a parametric study by varying the external-process parameters such as plasma treatment time, RF power, gas-flow rate, and pressure on the inactivation of S. aureus. The results were supported by optical emission spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy studies.