Tuning of operational parameters for effective production of nitric oxide using an ambient air rotating glow discharge jet

In this work, we have improved the structural design of the previously reported rotating arc jet and tuned the operational parameters to achieve effective production of nitric oxide from ambient air. Tuning of parameters was performed using a statistical approach. Absolute density of nitric oxide was estimated using threshold ionization mass spectroscopy (TIMS) and deep ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (DUVAS) and after a validation experiment it was concluded that it is possible to produce nitric oxide with densities up to 5 × 10 17 cm −3 using the present setup. Low level contamination by metal sputtered from the electrodes and small concentration of ozone and other harmful species was confirmed by TIMS and DUVAS. It has been found that the energy cost for forming a nitric oxide molecule using the developed plasma jet is about 78 eV, which is considerably low compared to conventional plasma jets. This work is a step towards the practical use of plasmas in medicine and agriculture.