Development of Plasma Textile for Nanoparticle Filtration and Bacterial Deactivation

A novel woven textile material capable of generating stable low temperature plasma was created. This resulted in enhancing the capture efficiency of nanoparticles when the material was used as a filter as well as exhibiting anti-bacterial properties. The primary supposition of the study is that a micro-plasma array can be embedded into a textile fabric to induce a plasma sheath that filters and deactivates bacterial pathogens coming into contact with the fabric. The work proceeded through a series of steps: (1) determining the optimal type of plasma discharge; (2) finding the ideal wire electrode material, radii and placement to achieve stable uniform generation of non-thermal plasmas; (3) modeling the electric field surrounding the electrodes to evaluate the impact of an insulating textile on the electrode system; (4) testing various polymers and developing a plasma textile based on electrode geometries found in experimentation; (5) measuring the filtration efficiencies of the plasmas using a differential mobility and a condensation particle counter; and (6) testing the textile fabric’s ability to deactivate bacteria. The work confirmed the existence of sustainable, uniform plasma on the surface of the developed fabric capable of capturing over 98% of bacteria-sized particles and deactivating tested bacteria.