Experimental and modeling studies of the plasma chemistry in a humid Ar radiofrequency atmospheric pressure plasma jet

While humid atmospheric pressure plasmas are extensively modeled, reaction set validation for these conditions remains limited. We present a detailed comparison of a modelling and experimental study with a goal to elucidate the plasma chemistry in a humid Ar radiofrequency-driven atmospheric pressure plasma jet. A large group of species including radicals (H, OH, O, HO2) and long-lived species (H2, O2 and H2O2) in the jet effluent was experimentally quantified by molecular beam mass spectroscopy (MBMS). MBMS measurements of H2O2, OH and H were validated by direct comparison with a liquid phase colorimetric measurement, laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and two-photon absorption LIF respectively. While an excellent agreement was found for OH and H2O2 by both techniques, a significant difference was found for H and shown to be due to boundary layer effects at the MBMS sampling substrate. The measured O, OH, HO2 and H2 are in good agreement with the plug model while H and O2 were underestimated and H2O2 was overestimated by the model. The accuracy of both the used reaction set and the diagnostics, as well as the observed discrepancies between the modeling and experimental results, are critically assessed. The results presented in this work enable us to identify further data needs for describing H2O vapor chemistry in low-temperature plasmas.