Characterization of atmospheric pressure microplasma produced from argon and a mixture of argon-ethylenediamine

A non-thermal atmospheric pressure microplasma generated from pure argon (Ar) and a mixture of argon-ethylenediamine vapors (Ar/EDA) has been characterized in this study. A sinusoidal power supply operating at 30 kHz was used to excite microplasma in a rectangular borosilicate glass capillary (4 x 0.4 mm(2)). The monomer EDA was mixed with Ar in order to perform plasma polymerization inside the microchannel. The analyses were made by measuring spectroscopic and electrical parameters of the discharge. The effects of EDA mixing on plasma parameters such as electron, excitation and rotational temperatures during the process of surface coating of the microchannel were investigated. These parameters play an important role in the deposition process. The plasma temperatures estimated through spectroscopic measurement were found in the sequence T-e > T-exc > T-vib > T-rot, which indicated the non-thermal characteristics of the proposed DBD microplasma. The parameters of the Ar discharge were also numerically computed using plasma simulations. The numerical predictions of electron temperature (2D simulations) and electron density (3D simulations) were found to be in close agreement to those estimated through experiments. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.