Plasma

Hi Friends! Today I have come up with a really interesting topic for you. Have you ever thought of using the fourth state of matter in the world in a beneficial way? Here we will discuss about how to excite atom to fourth stage and its applications.

Plasma, the fourth state of atom is a partially ionised gas comprising ions, electrons, ultraviolet photons and reactive neutrals such as radicals, excited and ground-state molecules.

The change of phase from solid to liquid and further to gas occurs as we increase the energy input. Thermal plasmas can be generated by inductive coupling of high-frequency fields in the MHz range or by microwave coupling in the GHz range or by D.C. coupling (arc lamp discharge) to gaseous medium thereby increasing the kinetic energy of the electrons resulting in increased number of collisions in the gas forming plasma products like electrons, ions, radicals and radiation of varying wavelengths including the one in UV ranges.

In food processing, the direct application of so-called “cold plasma” is of interest as these can be used to treat the food at low temperatures (<70 °C). This technology can be placed among those novel green technologies because its combination leads to enhancing food safety, quality and shelf life of food product without affecting the nutritional and sensory attributes of foods with a chemical-free and low temperature technique. Moreover, scientists were successful in inactivating pathogenic microorganisms like E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria in food stuffs like almond, apple, cheese, eggs, ham, melon, pork, bacon, mango and many more.

In addition to the food industry applications plasma can also be used for air-water purification, in high tech systems as semiconductor, polymers, as a renewable resource for producing efficient lightening, wound healing and cancer treatment.