Hybrid plasma chemical reactors for bio-polymers processing

Design of a hybrid plasma-chemical reactor in which strongly non-equilibrium low-temperature plasma is generated by joint action of a continuous electron beam and RF-gas discharge on gaseous media at moderate pressures (0.1–10 Torr) is described. Several versions of the reactor in a co-axial configuration were tested on the special experimental setup. Main characteristics of the reaction zone were studied as functions of electron beam and gas discharge parameters, plasma-generating media properties and peculiarities of the working process features. Temperature regimes of the materials processing were reliably controlled by the electron beam parameters. The reactor was applied to thin films and dispersed powders of natural polysaccharides (chitosan) and biomaterials (wood) processing to produce valuable low-molecular and bioactive compounds. In hybrid plasma of oxygen, the active particles responsible for the materials modification effects are atomic oxygen, ozone and singlet oxygen. Special software simulating the reactor operation and material treatment processes in plasmas of oxygen was developed and experimentally verified.