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) "Transient atmospheric plasmas - from plasmas to liquids to solids" is the realization of flexible energy and mass-efficient species conversion schemes by combining non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasmas with catalysis, electrolysis, and biocatalysis. Non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasmas allow the creation of systems of very different sizes and scales and control schemes to respond to varying species input, yielding flexible solutions as a building block for using renewable energies in decentralized scenarios. Due to the relatively low temperature of these plasmas, they are suitable for interaction with various surfaces. Furthermore, the non-equilibrium character enables chemical reactions different from the well-known chemistry at thermal equilibrium, opening up new routes for catalysis and electrolysis. Ranging from energy conversion (solar fuels, CO2 harvesting, photocatalysis), to health (removal of volatile organic compounds from air streams), to biotechnology (plasma-driven biocatalysis), and chemistry (bottom-up synthesis from small molecules to valuable chemicals), the CRC addresses several societal and technological challenges. Therefore, expertise from various research areas, including plasma physics, surface physics, chemistry, biotechnology, and engineering, is combined. The CRC is separated in two project areas A and B: (i) project area A "Transient Plasmas" aims at the fundamentals of non-equilibrium transient atmospheric plasmas on timescales between nanoseconds and seconds for the various physical systems ranging from plasma excitation on the nanosecond scale to the evolution of flow patterns on the millisecond scale; (ii) project area B "Plasma-Liquid-Solid Interfaces" deals with the fundamentals of non-equilibrium transient atmospheric plasmas on spatial scales between nano-meters and millimeters for the various physical systems ranging from nano-meter-sized reactive surface structures to plasmas in liquids on the micro-meter scale. Both project areas are intimately linked because, in both cases, the transient processes on very different length scales play a paramount role. Within the first two funding periods, insights into the excitation of plasma species and their interaction with surfaces have been gained, and various plasma catalysis, plasma electrolysis, and plasma-supported biocatalysis synergisms have been identified. Whereas radicals dominated the reaction chemistry, catalytic surfaces revealed a significant impact on plasma-based gas conversion. Henceforth, post-plasma catalysis schemes seem most favorable for the scale-up version of these concepts. In the third funding period, a consolidation of the fundamentals, modelling approaches, and proof-of-concepts for the scale-up version of plasma-based gas conversion is envisioned.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Current projects

• A01 - Highly sensitive measurements of electric fields with E-FISH, and key atomic and molecular species with THz absorption spectroscopy and cavity-enhanced spectroscopy techniques (Project Heads Czarnetzki, Uwe ;  van Helden, Jean-Pierre ;  Lepikhin, Nikita ;  Luggenhölscher, Dirk ;  Orel, Inna )
• A02 - Ro-vibrational distribution measurement in transient discharges by precision frequency comb spectroscopy (Project Heads Czarnetzki, Uwe ;  van Helden, Jean-Pierre ;  Luggenhölscher, Dirk ;  Sadiek, Ph.D., Ibrahim )
• 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 ;  Vass, Máté )
• 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 Heads Brinkmann, Ralf-Peter ;  Mussenbrock, Thomas ;  Vass, Máté )
• A09 - A kinetic chemistry model for atmospheric-pressure plasmas (Project Heads Brinkmann, Ralf-Peter ;  Gibson, Andrew Robert ;  Kemaneci, Ph.D., Efe ;  Mussenbrock, Thomas ;  Schücke, Lars )
• 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 - Combined theoretical and experimental studies on the impact of plasma-generated species on surface modifications and catalytic properties of well-defined electrodes and photocatalytic materials (Project Heads Elnagar, Mohamed ;  Jacob, Timo )
• B05 - 2D-plasma-liquid-solid interfaces – plasma electrolysis (Project Heads Awakowicz, Peter ;  Gibson, Andrew Robert ;  Korolov, Ihor ;  Schücke, Lars )
• 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 plasma and liquid chemistry for biocatalysis (Project Heads Bandow, Julia ;  Dirks, Tim ;  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 nanocatalysts for 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 )
• B15 - Plasma-modified ferroelectric catalysts for plasma-assisted conversion of volatile organics (Project Head Mei, Bastian )
• INF - Information infrastructure (Project Heads von Keudell, Achim ;  Prenzel, Marina )
• MGK - Integrated research training group (Project Heads Golda, Judith ;  von Keudell, Achim ;  Mei, Bastian ;  Muhler, Martin )
• PR - Public relations (Project Head Prenzel, Marina )
• Z - Central Tasks of the Collaborative Research Centre (Project Head von Keudell, Achim )

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