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A nonthermal carbon monoxide plasma is known to produce a solid deposition which is thought to be a polymer of carbon suboxide (C3O2); however there are very few investigations of this deposition in the literature. This thesis contains an analysis of the theoretical thermodynamics and kinetics of carbon suboxide formation as well as experimental results. The theoretical analysis suggests that carbon suboxide may be an equilibrium product even at ambient conditions but favors lower temperatures; furthermore if solid carbon is considered to be kinetically limited, and therefore not a product, then carbon suboxide is more likely to be a product under these pseudo-equilibrium conditions. Experimentally, solid films were produced in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) containing pure carbon monoxide. Optical emission spectroscopy was used to analyze the plasma and models of the emission spectra were created to determine the plasma temperatures. Deposition rates were determined to be on the order of 0.2 mg/min at a power of about 10W; it is expected however that these conditions are not optimized. The overall kinetics of carbon suboxide was analyzed and optimal conditions for operation can be estimated. Characterization of the solid depositions were carried out using Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectroscopy (ESI-MS), and Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Mass Spectroscopy (MALDI-MS). The characteristics of the film are very comparable to hydrolyzed carbon suboxide polymer suggesting that carbon suboxide polymer were in fact created in the carbon monoxide plasma at atmospheric conditions.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / During certain hypersonic flight regimes, shock heating of air creates a plasma sheath resulting in telemetry attenuation or blackout. The severity of the signal attenuation is dependent on vehicle configuration, flight trajectory, and transmission frequency. This phenomenon is investigated with a focus placed on the nonequilibrium plasma sheath properties (electron concentration, plasma frequency, collision frequency, and temperature) for a range of flight conditions and vehicle design considerations. Trajectory and transmission frequency requirements for air-breathing hypersonic vehicle design are then addressed, with comparisons made to both shuttle orbiter and RAM-C II reentry flights.

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Non-viral delivery of plasmid DNA has traditionally relied upon physical forces applied directly to target tissues. These physical methods typically involve contact between an applicator and the target tissue and often cause transient patient discomfort. To overcome the contact-dependent limitations of such delivery methodologies, an atmospheric direct current plasma source was developed to deposit ionized gas molecules onto localized treatment sites. The deposition of charged species onto a treatment site can lead to the establishment of an electric field with strengths similar to those used for traditional electroporation. In vitro experiments proved that this technology could transiently permeabilize cell membranes and that membrane restabilization followed first order kinetics. Optimum delivery of tracer molecules to cell suspensions occurred after 10 minutes of plasma exposure and was attained without adversely effecting cell viability. In vivo testing of the plasma discharge demonstrated the capability of this system to deliver plasmid DNA to murine skin. Initial experiments involved the injection of plasmid DNA encoding luciferase into the dermis of C57BL/6J mice and then exposing the tissue to plasma discharge for 10 mintues. Delivery by this method resulted in increased luminescence that was as much as 19-fold greater than DNA injection alone. Follow-up optimization experiments demonstrated it was possible to obtain luminescence results that were similar in magnitude to those obtained using electroporation, which under optimum conditions resulted in about a 40-fold increase in peak luminescence. Finally, optimum conditions were used to deliver a plasmid DNA encoding for the 120 kilodalton glycoprotein present on the surface of a macrophage tropic HIV. Results from this vaccination experiment indicated this method was capable of producing antigen specific humoral immune responses at similar levels as when electroporation was utilized as the delivery method.

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