SFB 1316:  Transient atmospheric plasmas - from plasmas to liquids to solids

• Subject Area: Physics ; Biology ; Chemistry ; Medicine ; Thermal Engineering/Process Engineering
• Term: since 2018
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 327886311

The main goal of the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1316 “Transient atmospheric plasmas – from plasmas to liquids to solids” is the realisation of flexible energy and mass efficient species conversion schemes by combining non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasmas with catalysis, with electrolysis, and with biocatalysis. Thereby, flexible solutions will be provided as a building block for the use of renewable energies in decentralised scenarios. The use of plasma for species conversion exhibits the advantage of a high energy density and very flexible control possibilities, which allows the creation of systems of very different sizes and scales as well as control schemes to respond to varying species input.The non-equilibrium character of plasmas at atmospheric pressure is controlled by large gas flows or by short pulsed excitation assuring strong cooling mechanisms, or a combination of both. This is generalised to variable waveform tailoring of the electric fields by applying and combining different excitation frequencies and schemes. Thereby, a huge variety of desired plasma chemistries or emission patterns can be adjusted. The strong coupling to surfaces implies a very direct exchange of catalytically active surfaces with the chemistry in the plasma bulk. Especially, non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasmas are optimally suited for bringing them in contact with liquids or solids. Many questions need to be answered such as how to reach and maintain a stable atmospheric pressure non-equilibrium discharge in a range of different gas mixtures or how to efficiently transport the produced species from the plasma to the catalytically active surface. In addition, the chemical non-equilibrium reaction routes differ strongly from equilibrium thermal chemistry and the transfer of species and energy occurs on vastly different length and time scales.The CRC 1316 addresses these challenges by combining expertise in plasma physics, surface physics, chemistry, biotechnology, and engineering. The CRC 1316 addresses the fundamentals of non-equilibrium transient atmospheric plasmas on timescales between nanoseconds and seconds for the various physical systems such as plasma excitation on the nanosecond scale, the conversion of the electronic excitation in rotational-vibrational states on the nanosecond to microsecond scale and the possible quenching by gas phase collisions. Finally, the transport of species to the confining surfaces and the flow patterns are investigated on timescales between milliseconds to seconds. Furthermore, the CRC 1316 addresses the fundamentals of non-equilibrium transient atmospheric plasmas on spatial scales between nanometres and millimetres for the various physical systems such as nanometre sized reactive surface structures, triggering catalytic reactions on oxidised metals or plasma streamers and plasmas in liquids on the micrometre scale.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Current projects

• A01 - Sub-ns electric field measurement in transient atmospheric pressure plasmas (Project Heads Czarnetzki, Uwe ;  Lepikhin, Nikita ;  Luggenhölscher, Dirk )
• A02 - Ro-vibrational distribution measurement in transient discharges by coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (Project Heads Czarnetzki, Uwe ;  Luggenhölscher, Dirk )
• A03 - Excitation transfer between molecules in transient atmospheric pressure plasmas and its impact on plasma chemistry (Project Heads von Keudell, Achim ;  Reiser, Dirk )
• A04 - Process control in micro atmospheric pressure RF plasma jets by voltage waveform tailoring and customized boundary surfaces (Project Heads Mussenbrock, Thomas ;  Schulze, Julian )
• A05 - From ns- to ms-pulses — influence of voltage characteristics on surface dielectric barrier discharges (Project Heads Awakowicz, Peter ;  Korolov, Ihor ;  Mussenbrock, Thomas ;  Schulze, Julian )
• A06 - Fundamental plasma-catalyst interaction in micro-structured discharges (Project Heads Böke, Marc ;  Golda, Judith ;  Schulz-von der Gathen, Volker )
• A07 - Plasma-assisted catalysis for conversion of volatile organic compounds (VOC) (Project Heads Awakowicz, Peter ;  Korolov, Ihor ;  Muhler, Martin )
• A08 - A 3-dimensional kinetic transport and reaction model of atmospheric pressure plasma jets (Project Head Brinkmann, Ralf-Peter )
• A09 - A kinetic chemistry model for atmospheric pressure plasmas (Project Heads Brinkmann, Ralf-Peter ;  Gibson, Andrew Robert ;  Kemaneci, Ph.D., Efe )
• B01 - Liquid plasma electrochemistry: activating catalytic surfaces and driving electrochemical transformations of plasma-activated species (Project Head Roldan Cuenya, Beatriz )
• B02 - Self-organisation of sub-μm surface structures stimulated by microplasma generated reactive species and short-pulsed laser irradiation (Project Heads Böke, Marc ;  Golda, Judith ;  Schulz-von der Gathen, Volker )
• B04 - Theoretical studies on the interaction of excited species with catalyst surfaces (Project Head Jacob, Timo )
• B05 - 2D-plasma-liquid-solid interfaces – plasma electrolysis (Project Heads Awakowicz, Peter ;  Gibson, Andrew Robert )
• B07 - Reaction chemistry of plasmas in liquids interacting with surfaces (Project Heads Grosse, Katharina ;  von Keudell, Achim )
• B08 - Non-thermal plasma-driven biocatalysis (Project Heads Bandow, Julia ;  Jung, Christoph )
• B11 - Rational tuning of the plasma and liquid chemistry for biocatalysis (Project Heads Bandow, Julia ;  Gibson, Andrew Robert ;  Golda, Judith )
• B12 - Impact of plasma in liquid on electrode structure and solution properties (Project Heads Engstfeld, Albert ;  Jacob, Timo )
• B13 - Plasma-derived bimetallic nanocatalysts for electrochemical hydrogen evolution (Project Head Tschulik, Kristina )
• B14 - The solvated electron at the electrified solid/liquid interface: structure and dynamics from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations (Project Head Sulpizi, Marialore )
• INF - Information infrastructure (Project Heads von Keudell, Achim ;  Prenzel, Marina )
• MGK - Integrated research training group (Project Heads von Keudell, Achim ;  Muhler, Martin )
• Z - Central Tasks of the Collaborative Research Centre (Project Head von Keudell, Achim )
• Ö - Public relations (Project Head Prenzel, Marina )

• Applicant Institution: Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Participating University: Universität Ulm
• Participating Institution: Forschungszentrum Jülich; Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (FHI)
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Achim von Keudell