%0 Journal Article
%T Disintegration of simulated drinking water biofilms with arrays of microchannel plasma jets
%J -
%D 2018
%R https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-018-0063-4
%X Biofilms exist and thrive within drinking water distribution networks, and can present human health concerns. Exposure of simulated drinking water biofilms, grown from groundwater, to a 9£¿¡Á£¿9 array of microchannel plasma jets has the effect of severely eroding the biofilm and deactivating the organisms they harbor. In-situ measurements of biofilm structure and thickness with an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system show the biofilm thickness to fall from 122£¿¡À£¿17£¿¦Ìm to 55£¿¡À£¿13£¿¦Ìm after 15£¿min. of exposure of the biofilm to the microplasma column array, when the plasmas are dissipating a power density of 58£¿W/cm2. All biofilms investigated vanish with 20£¿min. of exposure. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) demonstrates that the number of living cells in the biofilms declines by more than 93% with 15£¿min. of biofilm exposure to the plasma arrays. Concentrations of several oxygen-bearing species, generated by the plasma array, were found to be 0.4¨C21£¿nM/s for the hydroxyl radical (OH), 85¨C396£¿nM/s for the 1O2 excited molecule, 98¨C280£¿¦ÌM for H2O2, and 24¨C42£¿¦ÌM for O3 when the power density delivered to the array was varied between 3.6£¿W/cm2 and 79£¿W/cm2. The data presented here demonstrate the potential of microplasma arrays as a tool for controlling, through non-thermal disruption and removal, mixed-species biofilms prevalent in commercial and residential water systems
%U https://www.nature.com/articles/s41522-018-0063-4