Towards understanding plasma formation in liquid water via single bubble studies

Plasma-in-water based technological approaches offer great potential to addressing a wide range of contaminants threatening the safety of freshwater reserves. Widespread application of plasma-based technologies, however require a better understanding of plasma formation processes in water and the nature of the plasma-driven chemistry in solution. In this paper, we survey the scope of the threat to freshwater via contamination from a variety of sources, the status of conventional treatment technologies, the promise of plasma-based water purification, and the pathway to understanding plasma formation in water through the study of single bubble breakdown physics. Plasma formation in bubbles lie at the heart of plasma formation in liquid water. We present findings from ongoing research at the University of Michigan aimed at understanding the nature of plasma formation in bubbles, which provides an avenue for not only understanding breakdown conditions, but also insight in reducing the magnitude of the breakdown voltage. These experiments also establish an approach to a standardized apparatus for the study of plasma discharges in bubbles. We also discuss approaches to controlling plasma-induced chemistry in liquid water.