Evidence of radicals created by plasma in bacteria in water

Heavy water (D₂O) was introduced into a non-thermal plasma-jet (NTPJ) device to generate deuterium monoxide (OD) radicals at room temperature. Owing to the similar reactivity and low prevalence of deuterium in nature, OD radicals can be utilized to visualize the OH radical interactions with water and living cells. Escherichia coli in water were treated with OD radicals, and D atom incorporation into cells was visualized using time-of-flight SIMS and Nano-SIMS. The results show that D atoms from NTPJ reach the cytoplasm of E. coli in H₂O, indicating the usefulness of this OD-tracking method for the study of radical interactions with living cells.