Nanoscale Flow Research Division

Biological Nanoscale Reactive Flow Laboratory

  • ProfessorTakehiko Sato

  • Assistant ProfessorLIU Siwei

As a low-temperature plasma flow at atmospheric pressure is easily capable of generating heat, light, chemical species, charged particles, shock wave, etc., recently, a research on a sterilization and a plasma treatment has started using those physical features. The biological nanoscale reactive flow laboratory aims at a fundamental study and applications of “plasma medicine”, which is expected to become a next-generation medical technology, through the studies on activation and inactivation processes of cells, development of a plasma sterilization method, phenomena of reactive flow dynamics and nanoscale flow dynamics for a gas-liquid plasma and interactions between a plasma flow and cell/bacteria.

Activation and Inactivation Processes of Cell Viability by Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Flow

We aim at clarifying the effects on cells by chemical species generated by plasma, and aim for the fundamental study and the application. We have now studied about the activation and inactivation mechanism of cell viability by a plasma flow**, and the transport mechanism of chemical species generated by the plasma flow*.

*T.Shimizu et al., New J. Phys., 13(2011)053025. and T.Shimizu et al., J.Photopolym. sci. Tech., 24(2011),421.
**T.Sato, et al. J. Phys. D:Appl. Phys., 44(2011), 372001.

Biological Interference with Plasma Flow at Atmospheric Pressure

To reduce infection risks of new influenza, nosocomial infection and so on, and to develop next-generation medical instruments, we aim at clarifying generation and transportation mechanisms of a plasma flow by experimental and computational analyses* and we aim at identifying the central factor of sterilization effect and clarifying sterilization mechanism**. We have also developing a plasma sterilization device***.

*T.Sato et al., Plasma Process. and Polym., 5(2008), 606., T.Sato, et al.., IEEE Trans. Industry Appli., 45(2009),44., T.Miyahara, et. al, Europhys. Lett., 86(2009),45001. and T.Sato et al., New j. Phys., 11(2009),115018.
**T.Sato et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 89(2006),073902., T.Sato et al., IEEE Trans. Industry Appli., 42(2006), 399., T.Sato et al., IEEE Trans. Industry Appli., 43(2007),1159.
***Furui et al., JSME Journal B, 70(2008),879.[in Japanese]

Bubble Generation and Collapse Processes and Functionalization of Water by Gas-liquid Plasma Flow

To apply medical applications and environmental treatment, we have studied functional enhanced water, and the fundamental sciences of bubble generation and chemical reaction system of a gas-liquid plasma flow. We have obtained that Oxygen Reduction Potential (ORP) decreased down to -150 mV which is high reduction property by plasma in water.