The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgent need to find effective methods for disinfecting items such as personal protective equipment (PPE) in case a similar situation occurs in the future. To address this problem, we selected FFP2 masks, a common PPE that cannot be easily disinfected, and developed a scaled-up non-thermal plasma (NTP)-generating device Plasmatico v1.0, which was constructed as part of a series of prototypes. It is equipped with multiple electrodes within a large exposure chamber. Using Plasmatico v1.0, we achieved complete disinfection of FFP2 masks contaminated with SARS-CoV-2, influenza A virus and human rhinovirus after 90 min, while highly resistant human adenovirus was inactivated after 120 min. In addition, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were disinfected within 90 min. Furthermore, the mechanical and surface properties of FFP2 masks remained largely unaffected even after extended NTP exposure (up to 24 h), as shown using tensile test and surface analysis. The newly developed Plasmatico v1.0 device represents an effective, harmless, and affordable solution for disinfecting daily used objects such as FFP2 masks and highlights the potential of NTP technology for widespread application in public health, including improved preparedness for potential future pandemics and for keeping infection outbreaks under control.

Department of Biotechnology University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Czech Republic

Department of Pediatrics Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria

Department of Physics and Measurements University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Czech Republic

Faculty of Chemistry Brno University of Technology Brno Czech Republic

Faculty of Science University of Hradec Kralove Hradec Králové Czech Republic

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic

St Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute Vienna Austria

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Raeiszadeh, M. & Adeli, B. A critical review on ultraviolet disinfection systems against COVID-19 outbreak: Applicability, validation, and safety considerations. PubMed

Wang, J. et al. Disinfection technology of hospital wastes and wastewater: Suggestions for disinfection strategy during coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in China. PubMed PMC

Hamzavi, I. H. et al. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation: Possible method for respirator disinfection to facilitate reuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. PubMed PMC

Mohamed, H. et al. Non-thermal plasma as a novel strategy for treating or preventing viral infection and associated disease.

Lu, P., Cullen, P.J. & Ostrikov, K. in Cold Plasma in Food and Agriculture. (eds. N.N. Misra, O. Schlüter & P.J. Cullen) 83–116 (Academic Press, San Diego; 2016).

Čtvrtečková, L., Pichová, A., Scholtz, V., Khun, J. & Julák, J. Non-thermal plasma-induced apoptosis in yeast

Moszczyńska, J., Roszek, K. & Wiśniewski, M. Non-thermal plasma application in medicine—Focus on reactive species involvement. PubMed PMC

Laroussi, M. Cold plasma in medicine and healthcare: The new frontier in low temperature plasma applications.

Kašparová, P. et al. Non-thermal plasma causes PubMed PMC

Peña-Eguiluz, R. et al. Development and characterization of a non-thermal plasma source for therapeutic treatments. PubMed

Mariachiara, D. A. et al. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) as a promising therapeutic option for mild to moderate acne vulgaris: Clinical and non-invasive evaluation of two cases.

Koga-Ito, C. Y. et al. Cold atmospheric plasma as a therapeutic tool in medicine and dentistry.

Habib, M., Hottel, T. L. & Hong, L. Antimicrobial effects of non-thermal atmospheric plasma as a novel root canal disinfectant.

Assadi, I. et al. Review on inactivation of airborne viruses using non-thermal plasma technologies: From MS2 to coronavirus. PubMed PMC

Sahun, M. et al. Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped and non-enveloped viruses with non-thermal plasma for hospital disinfection. PubMed

Obrová, K. et al. Decontamination of high-efficiency mask filters from respiratory pathogens including SARS-CoV-2 by non-thermal plasma. PubMed PMC

Bouazizi, A. et al. 3D-printed devices for optimized generation of cold atmospheric plasma to improve decontamination of surfaces from respiratory pathogens.

Scholtz, V. et al. Non-thermal plasma treatment of ESKAPE pathogens: A review. PubMed PMC

Misra, N. N., Sreelakshmi, V. P., Naladala, T., Alzahrani, K. J. & Negi, P. S. Design and construction of a continuous industrial scale cold plasma equipment for fresh produce industry.

Okyere, A. Y., Rajendran, S. & Annor, G. A. Cold plasma technologies: Their effect on starch properties and industrial scale-up for starch modification. PubMed PMC

Lux, J. et al. in

Khun, J. et al. Non-thermal plasma sources based on cometary and point-to-ring discharges. PubMed PMC

Sundararaman, T., Muraleedharan, V. & Ranjan, A. Pandemic resilience and health systems preparedness: Lessons from COVID-19 for the twenty-first century. PubMed PMC

Williams, B. A., Jones, C. H., Welch, V. & True, J. M. Outlook of pandemic preparedness in a post-COVID-19 world. PubMed PMC

Godshall, C. E. & Banach, D. B. Pandemic preparedness. PubMed

Klenivskyi, M., Khun, J., Thonová, L., Vaňková, E. & Scholtz, V. Portable and affordable cold air plasma source with optimized bactericidal effect. PubMed PMC

Vaňková, E. et al. Prevention of biofilm re-development on Ti-6Al-4V alloy by cometary discharge with a metallic grid.

Pourbagher, R., Abbaspour-Fard, M. H., Sohbatzadeh, F. & Rohani, A. In vivo antibacterial effect of non-thermal atmospheric plasma on

Nima, G. et al. Antibacterial efficacy of non-thermal atmospheric plasma against PubMed PMC

Kim, C. K., Kim, H., Kim, H.-J. & Cho, S. B. Antibacterial and anticandidal effects of atmospheric-pressure, non-thermal, nitrogen- and argon-plasma pulses. PubMed

Helmke, A., Curril, I., Mrotzek, J., Schulz, J. & Viöl, W. Non-thermal plasma for decontamination of bacteria trapped in particulate matter filters: Plasma source characteristics and antibacterial potential.

Pundjung Juswono, U., Santjojo, D.J.D.H., Kasa, R.A. & Faisal, M. Bacterial Sterilization using non-thermal plasma method surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD): Effect of treatment duration on colony count, DNA, protease enzymes, and cell morphology.

Zver, M. et al. Non-thermal plasma inactivation of viruses in water solutions.

Scholtz, V. et al. Non-thermal plasma disinfecting procedure is harmless to delicate items of everyday use. PubMed PMC

Yardimci, O. & Setlow, P. Plasma sterilization: Opportunities and microbial assessment strategies in medical device manufacturing.

Lee, W. M., Chen, Y., Wang, W. & Mosser, A. Infectivity assays of human rhinovirus-A and -B serotypes. PubMed

Kärber, G. Beitrag zur kollektiven Behandlung pharmakologischer Reihenversuche.

Spearman, C. The method of ‘right and wrong cases’ (‘constant stimuli’) without gauss’s formulae.