Tempo-spatially resolved ozone characteristics during single-electrode dielectric barrier discharge (SE-DBD) operation against metal and porcine skin surfaces

Ozone is a major component produced by low-temperature plasmas operating in oxygen-containing gas mixtures. For correlation with biological or clinical results of plasma medical therapies as well as for evaluation of application security, tempo-spatially resolved ozone concentrations need to be considered. When operating a single-electrode dielectric barrier discharge (SE-DBD), the electric field characteristics are dependent on the geometrical setup as well as the electrical properties of the counter electrode. Thus, the counter electrode also affects the plasma input power and hence the total production of chemical species. Therefore, we studied the power input and the tempo-spatial characteristics of ozone concentrations during operation of a SE-DBD operated at voltage pulses in the us regime against a clean metal electrode and a metal electrode covered with porcine skin samples. At energy densities of up to 1.85 J/cm2, the ozone concentrations in the plasma volume amount to as much as 293 ppm whereas at a distance of 5 and 20 cm, respectively, from the discharge, concentrations have decreased beneath recommended safety limits of 0.1 ppm. Furthermore, significantly lower ozone concentrations could be observed when skin samples were used as part of the counter electrode.