Study of inactivation factors in low temperature surface-wave plasma sterilization

In this study we investigated the low temperature surface-wave plasma sterilization of directly and indirectly exposed Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores with a large-volume microwave plasma device. The air-simulated gas mixture was used to produce the plasma. The water vapor addition to the gas mixture improved the sterilization efficiency significantly. The effect of ultraviolet photons produced along with plasma to inactivate the spores was studied using a separate chamber, which was evacuated to less than one mTorr and was observed that spores were sterilized within 60 min. The scanning electron microscopy images revealed no significant changes in the actual size of the spores with that of untreated spores despite the survival curve shown that the spores were inactivated. © 2009 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.