Influence of Multi-Pin Anode Arrangement on Electric Field Distribution Characteristics and Its Application on Microgreen Seed Treatment

Abstract

This research proposes the design of a multi-corona discharge model to study the suitable electric field characteristics on sustaining a large stable plasma for microgreen seed treatment. The influence of an increase in the number of pin anode (NP) and the gap distances between two adjacent pins anode (GP) on electric field characteristics are studied by the finite-element method. The results have indicated that the electric field characteristics from a large NP with the 5 mm GP are suitable to sustain the large stable air plasma because of the high virtual semi-uniform electric field and the wider area of intense electric field stress. Then, the microgreen seeds are treated by the designed air multi-corona discharge model on a copper cathode (CC) or water cathode (WC). The germination rates of plasma-treated seeds on the CC and WC are higher than the ones of the control group of about 8% and 6% at 24 h cultivation time, respectively. The growth rates of plasma-treated seeds on CC and WC are greater than the ones of the control group of about 3.5 and 2.5 times, respectively. It can be confirmed that both plasma-treated cases have shown a positive effect on germination and growth enhancement. © 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH