Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Non-thermal plasmas such as dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) in the vicinity of liquids may induce water activation, interfacial deformation, and enhanced evaporation through charge, mass, and energy transport. Complexity increases when a solid surface is introduced into the system. Such multiphase interactions are central to plasma technologies in medicine, disinfection, wastewater treatment, and aerospace applications like flow control and de-icing. We experimentally investigated a water droplet impinging on the plasma-covered dielectric surface of a DBD actuator focusing on droplet dynamics, interfacial processes, and transient plasma response. This study reveals the complex interplay among four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Key findings include enhanced droplet spreading, the formation of fingerlike structures, and the appearance of localized micro-discharges during droplet-plasma interaction. We also examine plasma discharge behavior, thermal processes during droplet spreading, breakup, and evaporation, and the disruption of ionic wind by droplet impact. The authors report an experimental study of liquid droplet dynamics and interactions with plasmas in dielectric barrier discharge actuators. This clarifies the impact of water droplets in plasma emission and actuator disruptions.
Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Jorge Ahumada Lazo, Yang Liu
Institutions: City College of New York, City University of New York
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
Award: G3696285972
OpenAlex ID: W4416225691