Production and diffusion of H₂O₂during the interaction of a direct current pulsed atmospheric pressure plasma jet on a hydrogel

The interaction of cold atmospheric pressure plasma jets with hydrogels has been used as a model system to study the interaction of plasmas with tissues. In this study, we analyze the diffusion of reactive oxygen species (in particular H2O2) and quantify the amount of plasma-produced H2O2 species that penetrates into a gelatin hydrogel. We show that the diffusion constant of H2O2 in 10% gelatin hydrogel is similar to its diffusion constant in water and that the production of H2O2 in the hydrogel is significantly less than the production of H2O2 in distilled water for the same plasma operation conditions suggesting that the scavenging of OH radicals at the plasma-gel interface significantly reduces the H2O2 production.