Experimental study of levitating micro-organisms in plasma and its application

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K18750
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 14:Plasma science and related fields
• Research Institution: Kyoto Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Sanpei Akio 京都工芸繊維大学, 電気電子工学系, 准教授 (90379066)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 微粒子プラズマ / プラズマ応用 / クーロン結晶

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study reports levitation of microorganisms in the sheath of radio-frequency (RF) plasma. A crystal-like structure was successfully formed as a result of the levitation of a kind of bacillus micro-organisms Klebsiella pneumoniae in a plasma. An external electric field was applied to the plasma. The experimental results revealed that the behavior of the levitated microorganisms differs depending on the species.

Free Research Field

プラズマ科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

プラズマ中に微粒子を入れると負に帯電し，クーロン力や重力等の力が釣り合う位置で浮遊する事実は良く知られている．本研究では低温プラズマ中に種々の細菌を導入し，それらが帯電することでプラズマに浮遊することを確認され，自発的に秩序構造が形成されることを観測した．この事実は機能性材料・アストロバイオロジー・医療分野に対する応用へ期待できる．