Influence of duty cycle on the physicochemical characteristics of an AC-driven argon plasma jet and its impact on hydrogen peroxide production and cell viability

Abstract

This paper investigates how the duty cycle influences the production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in an alternating current (AC)-driven plasma jet. H2O2 is a major reactive oxygen species produced by plasma jets in medicine and is a biological important molecule because it can intervene in cellular signaling processes important for disease treatment. In this study, duty cycles were varied from 9% to 72%, which correlated with an increase in the plasma’s dissipated power and UV photon energy density, and consequently an increase in the production of high energy plasma components important for producing H2O2 through electron collision and UV photolysis reactions. Cell media treated with the plasma jet at higher duty cycles correlated with a decrease in the viability of HaCaT keratinocyte skin cells. The AC-driven plasma jets were shown to be operated optimally at a biocompatible gas temperature of below 40 °C whilst still maintaining efficiency in H2O2 production. Overall, the data presented in this study might find use for the future of optimization of the electrical properties of AC-driven plasma jets in plasma medicine.