Inactivation of microorganisms on fabrics using plasma-activated nebulized mist driven by different plasma gases

Pengyu Zhao; Sihong Ma; Li Guo; Yikang Jia; Rui Zhang; Min Chen; Zifeng Wang; Dingxin Liu; Yuan Zhao; Xiaohua Wang; Mingzhe Rong

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134365

Inactivation of microorganisms on fabrics using plasma-activated nebulized mist driven by different plasma gases

J Hazard Mater. 2024 Apr 19:471:134365. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134365. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Pengyu Zhao¹, Sihong Ma¹, Li Guo², Yikang Jia¹, Rui Zhang³, Min Chen¹, Zifeng Wang¹, Dingxin Liu¹, Yuan Zhao⁴, Xiaohua Wang¹, Mingzhe Rong¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Center for Plasma Biomedicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China.
² State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Center for Plasma Biomedicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China. Electronic address: guoli35@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
³ School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China.
⁴ Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education & Shaanxi Key Lab of Information Photonic Technique, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, PR China.

PMID: 38669926
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134365

Abstract

The disinfection of fabrics is crucial in preventing the spread of infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms to maintain public health. A previous study proved that plasma-activated nebulized mist (PANM) could effectively inactivate microorganisms both in aerosol and attached to the surface. In this study, the PANM driven by different plasma gases were employed to inactivate microorganisms on diverse fabrics. The PANM could efficiently inactivate a variety of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses, contaminating different fabrics, and even across covering layers of different fabrics. The mites residing on the cotton fabrics both uncovered and covered with various types of fabrics were also effectively inactivated by the PANM. After 30 times repeated treatments of the PANM, notable changes were observed in the color of several fabrics while the structural integrity and mechanical strength of the fabrics were unaffected and maintained similarly to the untreated fabrics with slight changes in elemental composition. Additionally, only trace amounts of nitrate remained in the fabrics after the PANM treatment. Therefore, the PANM treatment supplied an efficient, broad-spectrum, and environmentally friendly strategy for industrial and household disinfection of fabrics.

Keywords: Disinfection of fabrics; Inactivation of microorganisms; Mite removal; Plasma; Plasma-activated nebulized mist (PANM).