Why Use Plasma?

The use of plasma for cleaning is a common industrial process. Industrial plasma cleaning is most commonly performed in low-pressure chambers using specialized gas(es). IonfFeld uses plasma generated from room air, which is an excellent cleaning agent for organics.

The late Dr. Ulrich Kogelschatz is generally recognized as a pioneer of modern uses of plasma and a graduate student of Dr. Kogelschatz was a consultant to Cerionx, the original name of our? company, during the early development of what is now PureTIP.

 Atmospheric pressure, non-thermal plasma can be easily generated from air. Plastic, metal, and glass can be placed directly into the plasma or the plasma gas can be blown onto the target surface. IonField products use both methods.

Plasma is a gas that flows with properties similar to air and easily gets into surface openings and irregularities common on polymer surfaces. Plasma is not subject to the limitations resulting from liquid/solid interfacial forces and therefore does not require any additional chemicals or surfactants to be effective.

Removal of organic molecules is accomplished by oxidation and of liquids by vaporization. The byproducts of plasma oxidation are all gases and cleaning leaves no liquid or solid waste on the cleaned surfaces.

How Does IonField Clean with Plasma?

Simply put, the plasma converts some of the oxygen in ambient air into several new forms: ozone, which is a powerful oxidizing agent, small quantities of high energy O2, and trace amounts of singlet O (as a group commonly referred to as reactive oxygen species, ROS). It also converts; nitrogen into a number of high-energy nitrogen species that are highly reactive with organic molecules, and water in the air into highly reactive hydroxide. Please refer to the attachments, particularly the articles by Dr. Kogelschatz, for more information.

Liquids exposed to plasma and post-plasma energized air rapidly vaporize. This transition to gas occurs so quickly that molecules in the liquid matrix cannot move away from the gas/liquid interface and are propelled into the surrounding gases. During[CD14]  the change of state from a liquid to a gas, H2O expands approximately 1600-fold. organic molecules oxidize almost instantly on contact with the highly reactive gases generated by the plasma.

Safe

The arc-free dielectric barrier discharge plasma produced by the PurePLATE and PureTIP operates at near room temperature, drawing very little power. The induced plasma field is fully enclosed within a self-cleaning, inert chamber. All by-products of the cleaning process are effectively trapped first by the PureTIP’s and PurePLATE’s integral filtration system and, secondly, are vented to an external system.

Reliable

With essentially no moving parts, the PureTIP Liquid Handler Companion provides a robust solution to the cleaning and sterilization of liquid transfer devices. The unique combination of oxidizing free radicals and highly reactive atomic species formed within the Cleaning Station’s cold plasma field promotes the nearly instantaneous conversion, volatilization, and ultimate removal of chemical and biological contaminants from pipetting surfaces. Furthermore, these species are readily drawn into and out of a pipette when the opening of the pipette is within the plasma field. This technique will actively clean the inner, wet surfaces of liquid transfer devices such as cannulae and disposable pipette tips. Because plasma will flow easily into all microscopic surface imperfections and cavities, it is not subject to surface tension effects.

Practical

The PureTIP System cleans and sterilizes pipette tips and pin tools in real-time, while online and in process[CD19] . No liquid waste is generated in this process, so the need for multi-liter vessels of fresh and used washing solutions is eliminated, as is the need for expensive and bulky automated tip-handling equipment. This combination of effectiveness and time savings results in a cleaning system that can significantly increase throughput in an automated laboratory, while minimizing the storage space required for disposable tips, and eliminating the generation of large quantities of contaminated wash solution. The[CD20]  PurePLATE Microplate Cleaning System cleans skirted and semi-skirted microplates up to 44mm in height, including many deep well microplates. With an average throughput of 50-55 plates an hour, organizations can clean plates quickly and reuse those plates immediately[CD21] .