Abstract
The sporicidal effects of low-pressure radio frequency (RF) discharges in oxygen, produced by the application of continuous and pulsed RF power, were evaluated. For all cases, the survival curves showed a biphasic evolution. The maximum efficiency for bacteria sterilization was obtained when the RF power was injected in the continuous wave mode, while in the pulsed mode the lowest treatment temperature was ensured. The inactivation rates were calculated from the microorganism survival curves and their dependencies on the pulse characteristics (i.e., pulse frequency and duty cycle) were compared with those of the plasma parameters. The results indicated that the inactivation rate corresponding to the first phase of the survival curves is related to the time-averaged intensity of the light emission by the excited neutral atoms in the pulsed plasma, whereas the inactivation rate calculated from the second slope of the survival curves and the time-averaged plasma density have similar behaviors, when the pulse parameters were modified.
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