Inactivation Effect of Low-Temperature Plasma on <italic>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</italic> for Nosocomial Anti-Infection

Abstract

Disinfection and sterilization in hospitals and other public places have always been the focus of attention. In our studies, dielectric barrier corona discharge (DBCD) was used to generate low-temperature plasma (LTP) to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa, one kind of bacteria responsible for nosocomial infections). The survival colonies of P. aeruginosa were counted with the standard plate-counting method after 30-, 60-, 90-, and 120-s exposures to DBCD. We discovered that LTP could lead to more than 5-log reduction of P. aeruginosa after 120-s treatment. Further experiments indicated that OH and excited N2 in LTP and lower pH value in bacterial suspension might synergistically inactivate P. aeruginosa by destroying its outer structure.