Jozef Stefan Institute , Ljubljana , Slovenia.
Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School , Ljubljana , Slovenia.
Environ Sci Technol. 2019 Feb 19;53(4):1893-1904. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b05386. Epub 2019 Feb 4.
Fungal contamination of surfaces is a global burden, posing a major environmental and public health challenge. A wide variety of antifungal chemical agents are available; however, the side effects of the use of these disinfectants often result in the generation of toxic residues raising major environmental concerns. Herein, atmospheric pressure air plasma generated by a surface barrier discharge (SBD) is presented as an innovative green chemical method for fungal inactivation, with the potential to become an effective replacement for conventional chemical disinfection agents, such as Virkon. Using Aspergillus flavus spores as a target organism, a comparison of plasma based decontamination techniques is reported, highlighting their respective efficiencies and uncovering their underpining inactivation pathways. Tests were performed using both direct gaseous plasma treatment and an indirect treatment using a plasma activated aqueous broth solution (PAB). Concentrations of gaseous ozone and nitrogen oxides were determined with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Optical emission spectroscopy (OES), whereas hydrogen peroxides, nitrites, nitrates, and pH were measured in PAB. It is demonstrated that direct exposure to the gaseous plasma effluent exhibited superior decontamination efficiency and eliminated spores more effectively than Virkon, a finding attributed to the production of a wide variety of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species within the plasma.
表面真菌污染是一个全球性的负担，对环境和公共健康构成了重大挑战。有各种各样的抗真菌化学试剂可供选择；然而，这些消毒剂的使用副作用常常导致有毒残留物的产生，引起了重大的环境问题。在此，通过表面阻挡放电（SBD）产生的常压空气等离子体被提出作为一种用于真菌灭活的创新绿色化学方法，有可能成为传统化学消毒剂（如 Virkon）的有效替代品。本文以黄曲霉孢子为目标生物，比较了基于等离子体的消毒技术，报告了它们各自的效率，并揭示了它们的潜在灭活途径。直接使用气态等离子体处理和使用等离子体激活的水性培养液（PAB）进行间接处理都进行了测试。通过傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）和光学发射光谱（OES）测定了气态臭氧和氮氧化物的浓度，而在 PAB 中测量了过氧化氢、亚硝酸盐、硝酸盐和 pH 值。结果表明，直接暴露于气态等离子体流出物具有更高的消毒效率，比 Virkon 更有效地消除孢子，这归因于等离子体中产生了多种活性氧和氮物种。
