• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.08a
• /
• pp.268-268
• /
• 2012

Atmospheric pressure microwave induced plasmas are used to excite and ionize chemical species for elemental analysis, for plasma reforming, and for plasma surface treatment. Microwave plasma differs significantly from other plasmas and has several interesting properties. For example, the electron density is higher in microwave plasma than in radio-frequency (RF) or direct current (DC) plasma. Several types of radical species with high density are generated under high electron density, so the reactivity of microwave plasma is expected to be very high [1]. Therefore, useful applications of atmospheric pressure microwave plasmas are expected. The surface characteristics of SUS304 stainless steel are investigated before and after surface modification by microwave plasma under atmospheric pressure conditions. The plasma device was operated by power sources with microwave frequency. We used a device based on a coaxial transmission line resonator (CTLR). The atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) in the case of microwave frequency (880 MHz) used Ar as plasma gas [2]. Typical microwave Pw was 3-10 W. To determine the optimal processing conditions, the surface treatment experiments were performed using various values of Pw (3-10 W), treatment time (5-120 s), and ratios of mixture gas (hydrogen peroxide). Torch-to-sample distance was fixed at the plasma edge point. Plasma treatment of a stainless steel plate significantly affected the wettability, contact angle (CA), and free energy (mJ/$m^2$) of the SUS304 surface. CA and ${\gamma}$ were analyzed. The optimal surface modification parameters to modify were a power of 10 W, a treatment time of 45 s, and a hydrogen peroxide content of 0.6 wt% [3]. Under these processing conditions, a CA of just $9.8^{\circ}$ was obtained. As CA decreased, wettability increased; i.e. the surface changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. From these results, 10 W power and 45 s treatment time are the best values to minimize CA and maximize ${\gamma}$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2014.02a
• /
• pp.121.1-121.1
• /
• 2014

Recently, much attention has been given to plasma production under liquid and its applications [1]. However, most of plasma production techniques reported so far utilize high voltage dc, ac, rf or microwave power [2], where damage to discharge electrodes and small discharge volume are remained issues. As an alternative of plasma production method under liquid, we have proposed pulsed microwave excited plasma using slot antenna, where damage to the slot electrode can be minimized and plasma volume can be increased. We have also reported improvement of treatment efficiency with use of reduced-pressure condition during the discharge [3]. To realize low pressure conditions in liquid, various alternative technique can be considered. One possible technique is simultaneous injection of microwave power and ultrasonic wave. Ultrasonic wave induces pressure fluctuation with the wave propagation and is so far used for cavitation production in the water. We propose utilization of reduced pressure induced by ultrasonic cavitation for improvement of the plasma production. Correlation between the plasma production and the ultrasonic power will be discussed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.905-907
• /
• 2014

The plasma and microwave surface treatments of carbon nanotubes that loaded on plastic substrates were carried out with expecting a change of carbon nanotube dispersion by increasing treatment time. The microwave treatment process was undergone by commercial microwave oven (800 W). The electrical property was measured by hall measurement and resistance was increased by increasing $O_2$ flow rate of plasma, suggesting an improvement of carbon nanotube dispersion and a possibility of controlling the resistances of carbon nanotubes by plasma surface treatment. The resistance was increased in both polyethylene terephthalate and polyimide substrates by increasing $O_2$ flow rate. Resistance changes only slightly with different $O_2$ flow treatment in measure rho for all polyimide samples. Sheet resistance is lowest in polyimide substrate not due to high carbon nanotube loading but due to tendency to remain in elongated structure. $O_2$ or $N_2$ plasma treatments on both polyethylene terephthalate and polyimide substrates lead to increase in sheet resistance.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.43-47
• /
• 2014

By measuring decrease change of the contact angle after microwave plasma treatment on the glass and Al as a scintillator panel sample substrate, the adhesive performance of scintillator panel can be expected to improve. Also resolution and sensitivity of scintillator panel after microwave plasma treatment can be expected to maintain highly.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.139-144
• /
• 2009

A microwave plasma torch at the atmospheric pressure by making use of magnetrons operated at the 2.45 GHz and used in a home microwave oven has been developed. This electrodeless torch can be used to various areas, including industrial, environmental and military applications. Although the microwave plasma torch has many applications, we in the present work focused on the microwave plasma torch operated in pure steam and several applications, which may be used in future and right now. For example, a high-temperature steam microwave plasma torch may have a potential application of the hydrocarbon fuel reforming at one atmospheric pressure. Moreover, the radicals including hydrogen, oxygen and hydroxide molecules are abundantly available in the steam torch, dramatically enhancing the reaction speed. Also, the microwave plasma torch can be used as a high-temperature, large-volume plasma burner by injecting hydrocarbon fuels in gas, liquid, and solid into the plasma flame. Finally, we briefly report treatment of soils contaminated with oils, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, etc., which is an underway research in our group.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.02a
• /
• pp.498-498
• /
• 2013

Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas have pioneered a new field of plasma for biomedical application bridging plasma physics and biology. Biological and medical applications of plasmas have attracted considerable attention due to promising applications in medicine such as electro-surgery, dentistry, skin care and sterilization of heat-sensitive medical instruments [1]. Traditional approaches using electronic devices have limits in heating, high voltage shock, and high current shock for patients. It is a great demand for plasma medical industrial acceptance that the plasma generation device should be compact, inexpensive, and safe for patients. Microwave-excited micro-plasma has the highest feasibility compared with other types of plasma sources since it has the advantages of low power, low voltage, safety from high-voltage shock, electromagnetic compatibility, and long lifetime due to the low energy of striking ions [2]. Recent experiment [2] shows three-log reduction within 180-s treatment of S. mutans with a low-power palm-size microwave power module for biomedical application. Experiments using microwave plasma are discussed. This low-power palm-size microwave power module board includes a power amplifier (PA) chip, a phase locked loop (PLL) chip, and an impedance matching network. As it has been a success, more compact-size module is needed for the portability of microwave devices and for the various medical applications of microwave plasma source. For the plasma generator, a 1.35-GHz coaxial transmission line resonator (CTLR) [3] is used. The way of reducing the size and enhancing the performances of the module is examined.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2015.08a
• /
• pp.158-158
• /
• 2015

Myoblast are myogenic precursors that proliferate, activate, and differentiate on muscle injury to sustain the regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle; The neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (nNOS, termed also NOS-I) is expressed in normal adult skeletal muscle, suggesting important functions for Nitric oxide (NO) in muscle biology1,2,3. However, the expression and subcellular localization of NO in muscle development and myoblast differentiation are largely unknown. In this study, we examined effects of the nitric oxide generated by a microwave plasma torch, on proliferation/differentiation of rat myoblastic L6 cells. Experimental data pertaining to nitric oxide production are presented in terms of the oxygen input in units of cubic centimetres per minute. The various levels of nitric oxide are observed depending on the flow rate of nitrogen gas, the ratio of oxygen gas, and the microwave power4. In order to evaluate the potential of nitric oxide as an activator of cell differentiation, we applied nitric oxide generated from the microwave plasma torch to L6 skeletal muscles. Differentiation of L6 cells into myotubes was significantly enhanced the differentiation after nitric oxide treatment. Nitric oxide treatment also increase the expression of myogenesis marker proteins and mRNA level, such as myogenin and myosin heavy chain (MHC), as well as cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), However during the myotube differentiation we found that NO activate oxidative stress signaling erks expression. Therefore, these results establish a role of NO and cGMP in regulating myoblast differentiation and elucidate their mechanism of action, providing a direct link with oxidative stress signalling, which is a key player in myogenesis. Based on these findings, nitric oxide generated by plasma can be used as a possible activator of cell differentiation and tissue regeneration.

• Medical Lasers
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.74-79
• /
• 2019

Periorbital melasma is often refractory to treatment and highly associated with rebound hyperpigmentation or mottled hypopigmentation after laser treatment in Asian patients. In this report, we describe 2 patients with cluster-1 periorbital melasma and 1 patient with cluster-2 periorbital melasma who experienced remarkable clinical improvements after microwave-generated, atmospheric-pressure, non-thermal nitrogen plasma treatments. All patients exhibited limited clinical responses after combination treatments with topical bleaching agents, systemic oral tranexamic acid, and low-fluenced Q-switched neodymium (Nd):yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) lasers. Low-energy nitrogen plasma treatment at 0.75 J elicited remarkable clinical improvement in the periorbital melasma lesions without post-laser therapy rebound hyperpigmentation and mottled hypopigmentation. We deemed that a single pass of nitrogen plasma treatment at 0.75 J induces mild microscopic thermal tissue coagulation and modification within the epidermis while preserving the integrity of the basement membrane in patients with periorbital melasma. Accordingly, nitrogen plasma-induced dermal tissue regeneration could play a role in the treatment of melasma lesions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.123-127
• /
• 2011

This study was conducted to decrease the microbial hazard in kimchi saline water with microwave plasma sterilization system and to evaluate the inactivation of foodborne pathogens by the microwave plasma sterilization system as a non-thermal treatment. Contamination of coliform, Escherichia coli, and yeasts and molds were detected in the used saline water, and the microbial populations increased as the saline water was reused repeatedly. The $D_{10}$-values of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes by the microwave plasma sterilization system were 0.48, 0.52, and 0.45 cycle, respectively. In addition, the microbial populations of coliform, E. coli, Salmonella spp., total aerobic bacteria, and yeasts and molds in the used kimchi saline water were significantly decreased by treating the saline water using the microwave plasma sterilization system. Therefore, these results suggest that microwave plasma sterilization system can be useful in improving the microbial safety of the used saline water.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.19-25
• /
• 2009

Polymerization of tetraethoxysilane on a glass substrate was investigated by remote microwave plasma using argon with portions of nitrous oxide as carrier gas. Transparent layer like a thickness of 0.5 ${\mu}m$ 3 ${\mu}m$ were obtained, differing in chemical composition, depending on plasma power and treatment time as well as on ageing time. In general the milder the treatment and the shorter the ageing was, the higher was the content of organic structural elements in the layer. We have identified that the chemical structure of our samples composed of mainly Si O and Si C groups containing aliphatics, carbonyl groups. These results were obtained by X ray photon spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope combined with Energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy.