DIREBIO
Décharges Impulsionnelles, REactivités à haute pression, et interfaces plasma-BIOlogie

• Présentation
• News
• Basic objectives and applications
• Members
• Coopérations
• Documents

Team Head : João SANTOS SOUSA

Last update: 09/01/2024

Présentation

Research works carried out by DIREBIO, and applications concerned, are linked to the three themes Energy, Environment, and Health. In recent years and currently, the topics covered are:

• The kinetics of conversion of hydrocarbons and Volatile Organic Compounds in mixtures of atmospheric gases, in different types of plasma (homogeneous, diffuse, filamentary), with the main application being the reduction of polluting emissions (industry, transport, etc.) and to a lesser extent the triggering of combustion;
• The physics and reactivity of ultra-short (10 ns) pulsed discharges at very high voltage (50 kV and more), which generate a diffuse plasma in air at atmospheric pressure;
• The physics of micro-discharges and “plasma jets”, with application to the development of new materials for electronics, the conversion and synthesis of organic molecules, and bio-medicine;
• The interaction of plasmas with liquids and living matter (cells, microorganisms), particularly for application in oncology;
• The interaction of plasmas with surfaces for the development of mass spectrometry applied to global security, the detection of weakly volatile molecules;
• RF or DC discharge plasmas for the optimization of metal powders as part of work on the additive manufacturing of objects with complex geometry.

 

Fundamental objectives and applications

The formation of the team dates back to the end of the 1980s when the LPGP became involved in the study of high-power excimer lasers, in particular XeCl (308 nm), under the responsibility of Vincent PUECH, founder of the team and scientific manager until 2008.

Researches were then gradually extended to high power switching (pseudo-sparks), depollution of gaseous effluents (de-NOx and de-VOCs), HF/DF lasers (3-4 µm), treatment of metallic surfaces (cleaning and deposition of thin layers), then the triggering of combustion, the decontamination of surfaces by VUV photons, the biological applications of plasmas (bio-medicine), and more recently the detection or conversion/synthesis of organic molecules, the conception of new materials, in collaboration with academic partners in the frame of projects financed by major French agencies (ANR, ADEME, etc.) and national research programs (Plan Cancer, etc.), the district Région Ile-de-France (Diagplas platform), the CNRS and two thematic scientific groups Labex of Paris-Saclay University. The team was under the responsibility of Stéphane PASQUIERS from 2009 to 2023, and its activities are now coordinated by Joao SANTOS SOUSA.

The physics of rapid pulsed electrical discharges (ns - µs) and the kinetics of plasmas generated by these discharges constitute the basis of the activities of the DIREBIO team: energy deposition in plasmas (in space and time), production and transport of active species, correlation between energy deposition and production of species, reactivity in the gas phase, etc. The team is interested in the physics of these discharges and the kinetics of plasmas produced in gases and mixtures of very varied gases (rare gases and molecular gases).

The discharges studied and developed, or implemented for specific applications, are of different types: micro-discharges, dielectric barrier discharges for “plasma jets" or other reactive species sources, diffuse nanosecond corona discharges, etc. Of an older design, a pre-ionized (photo-triggered) discharge is used for detailed studies of molecular kinetics in gas mixtures.

In recent years, and currently, the team's main research topics are:

• The kinetics of conversion of hydrocarbons and Volatile Organic Compounds in mixtures of atmospheric gases, in different types of plasma (homogeneous, diffuse, filamentary), with the main application being the reduction of polluting emissions (industry, transport, etc.) and to a lesser extent the triggering of combustion;
• The physics and reactivity of ultra-short (10 ns) pulsed discharges at very high voltage (50 kV and more), which generate a diffuse plasma in air at atmospheric pressure;
• The physics of micro-discharges and “plasma jets”, with application to the development of new materials for electronics, the conversion and synthesis of organic molecules, and bio-medicine;
• The interaction of plasmas with liquids and living matter (cells, microorganisms), particularly for application in oncology;
• The interaction of plasmas with surfaces for the development of mass spectrometry applied to global security, the detection of weakly volatile molecules;
• RF or DC discharge plasmas for the optimization of metal powders as part of work on the additive manufacturing of objects with complex geometry.
 

News

This section is currently being updated.

• Major partnerships

  DIAGPLAS: Plateforme francilienne de diagnostics avancés de plasmas réactifs, supported by the Ile-de-France region as part of its SESAME2016 call, coordinated by G. Stancu (Energétique Moléculaire et Macroscopique, Combustion - EM2C, Centrale-Supelec, Gif-sur-Yvette - also in collaboration with the Laboratoire des Sciences des Procédés et des Matériaux - LSPM, Paris XIII-Villetaneuse).
  As part of this long-term project (2018-2023), and with the support of the Labexes LaSIPS and PALM, DIREBIO will develop expertise in the implementation of high-resolution PTR-FTICR mass spectrometry in collaboration with the LCP (M. Heninger et al.) at Université Paris-Sud, and in species measurements by infrared laser absorption in collaboration with the EM2C laboratory (G. Stancu et al.) at Centrale-Supelec.

• Research programs since 2014

  PLASORG: Conversion of organic molecules using cold plasmas. 2-year program (2018-2019) supported by Labex LaSIPS, coordinated by S. Pasquiers.

  
  ERACOP: Elementary Reactivity and Analysis for Cold Plasmas. 2-year program (2018-2019) supported by Labex PALM, coordinated by C. Alcaraz (Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, Université Paris-Sud).

  
  PLASCANCER: Study of the chemical and biological effects of plasmas and anticancerous plasma(electro)chemotherapy. 3-year program (2018-2020) supported by INSERM-INCA, coordinated by L. Mir (Vectorologie et Thérapeutiques Anticancéreuses, Institut Gustav Roussy, Villejuif).

  
  PHeCell3D: Optimization of the anti-tumor efficacy of cold helium plasma jets using 3-dimensional tumor cell models. 2-year program (2018-2019) supported by Labex LaSIPS, coordinated by J. Santos Sousa.

  
  RECOVER: Innovative plasma reactor for VOC removal in industry. 3-year program (2015-2018) supported by ADEME (prog. CORTEA: Knowledge, reduction at source and treatment of air pollutant emissions), coordinated by an industrial company.

  
  EXFIDIS: Study of a new type of electric discharge generated by an extreme transient electric field in air at atmospheric pressure. 5-year program (2014-2018) supported by ANR, coordinated by P. Tardiveau (2013 "white" programs).

  
  PLASPAMS: Plasmas for mass analysis of surfaces. 4-year program (2014-2018) supported by the ANR (Programme CSOSG 2013), coordinated by S. Pasquiers, and M. Heninger (Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, Université Paris-Sud).PLASORG : Conversion of organic molecules by cold plasmas. 2-year program (2018-2019) supported by Labex LaSIPS, coordinated by S. Pasquiers.