Materials degradation in non-thermal plasma generators by corona discharge

Atmospheric corona discharge devices are being studied as innovative systems for cooling, sterilization, and propulsion, in several industrial fields, from robotics to medical devices, from drones to space applications. However, their industrial scale implementation still requires additional understanding of several complex phenomena, such as corrosion, degradation, and fatigue behaviour, which may affect final system performance. This study focuses on the corrosive behaviour of wires that perform as a high-voltage electrode subject to DC positive corona discharge in atmospheric air. The experiments demonstrate that the non-thermal plasma process promotes the growth of the oxidative films and modifies the physicochemical properties of the materials chosen as corona electrodes, hence affecting device operation. Surfaces exposed to this non-thermal plasma are electrically characterized by negative exponential decay of time-depend power and analysed with SEM. Implications on performance are analysed and discussed.