Plasma activated nanobubble water enhance bacterial biofilm inactivation

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214714424019081?dgcid=author

• The plasma activated nanobubble water exhibited enhanced antibiofilm activity

compared to nanobubble water

• Incorporating argon reduced reactive species concentrations in

plasma-activated nanobubble water

• The reactive species in plasma activated nanobubble water

decreased during storage

This research developed novel plasma activated nanobubble water (PANBW) by

integrating atmospheric cold plasma and nanobubble water (NBW) technologies.

Mixing of plasma reactive species with NBW to generate the PANBW makes it an

effective solution for microbial biofilm inactivation and water treatment, possibly by

leveraging the benefits of both technologies. Selected properties of PANBW, including

the concentrations of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) were characterized,

and the stability of RONS during storage for 7 days were evaluated. The combination of

argon and air as feed gases was used to determine the influence of feed gas type on

RONS production and the effect of the generated PANBW on biofilm reduction.

The effectiveness of PANBW in inactivating mixed-species bacterial biofilms was

assessed against NBW, plasma activated water (PAW), and their combinations.

This comparison involved treating biofilms of Salmonella enterica Typhimurium ATCC

13311 and Aeromonas australiensis, that were grown on stainless steel coupons by

these solutions. The PANBW treatment was most effective in the inactivation of the

tested mixed species biofilms with a reduction of >2 log CFU/cm² in the biofilm population.

The confocal laser scanning microscopy analysis was consistent with the bacterial

inactivation results. This study highlights the potential of atmospheric cold plasma 

when combined with nanobubble technology, as a novel and efficient method for biofilm

control and food safety applications.