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Author Ramakers, M.; Medrano, J.A.; Trenchev, G.; Gallucci, F.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Revealing the arc dynamics in a gliding arc plasmatron: a better insight to improve CO2conversion Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2017 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 26 Issue 12 Pages 125002  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract A gliding arc plasmatron (GAP) is very promising for CO2 conversion into value-added chemicals, but to further improve this important application, a better understanding of the arc behavior is indispensable. Therefore, we study here for the first time the dynamic arc behavior of the GAP by means of a high-speed camera, for different reactor configurations and in a wide range of operating conditions. This allows us to provide a complete image of the behavior of the gliding arc. More specifically, the arc body shape, diameter, movement and rotation speed are analyzed and discussed. Clearly, the arc movement and shape relies on a number of factors, such as gas turbulence, outlet diameter, electrode surface, gas contraction and buoyance force. Furthermore, we also compare the experimentally measured arc movement to a state-of-the-art 3D-plasma model, which predicts the plasma movement and rotation speed with very good accuracy, to gain further insight in the underlying mechanisms. Finally, we correlate the arc dynamics with the CO2 conversion and energy efficiency, at exactly the same conditions, to explain the effect of these parameters on the CO2 conversion process. This work is important for understanding and optimizing the GAP for CO2 conversion.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000414675000001 Publication Date 2017-11-07  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited 7 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This work was supported by the Belgian Federal Office for Science Policy (BELSPO) and the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO; grant numbers G.0383.16N and 11U5316N). Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:147023 Serial 4761  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Berthelot, A.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Modeling of CO2plasma: effect of uncertainties in the plasma chemistry Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2017 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 26 Issue 11 Pages 115002  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Low-temperature plasma chemical kinetic models are particularly important to the plasma community. These models typically require dozens of inputs, especially rate coefficients. The latter are not always precisely known and it is not surprising that the error on the rate coefficient data can propagate to the model output. In this paper, we present a model that uses N = 400 different combinations of rate coefficients based on the uncertainty attributed to each rate coefficient, giving a good estimation of the uncertainty on the model output due to the rate coefficients. We demonstrate that the uncertainty varies a lot with the conditions and the type of output. Relatively low uncertainties (about 15%) are found for electron density and temperature, while the uncertainty can reach more than an order of magnitude for the population of the vibrational levels in some cases and it can rise up to 100% for the CO2 conversion. The reactions that are mostly responsible for the largest uncertainties are identified. We show that the conditions of pressure, gas temperature and power density have a great effect on the uncertainty and on which reactions lead to this uncertainty. In all the cases tested here, while the absolute values may suffer from large uncertainties, the trends observed in previous modeling work are still valid. Finally, in accordance with the work of Turner, a number of ‘good practices’ is recommended.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000413216500002 Publication Date 2017-10-18  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited 16 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes We acknowledge financial support from the European Unions Seventh Framework Program for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n◦ 606889. The calculations were carried out using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UA), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UA. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:146879c:irua:146642 Serial 4758  
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Author Alves, L.L.; Bogaerts, A.; Guerra, V.; Turner, M.M. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Foundations of modelling of nonequilibrium low-temperature plasmas Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2018 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 023002  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract This work explains the need for plasma models, introduces arguments for choosing the type of model that better fits the purpose of each study, and presents the basics of the most common nonequilibrium low-temperature plasma models and the information available from each one, along with an extensive list of references for complementary in-depth reading. The paper presents the following models, organised according to the level of multi-dimensional description of the plasma: kinetic models, based on either a statistical particle-in-cell/Monte-Carlo approach or the solution to the Boltzmann equation (in the latter case, special focus is given to the description of the electron kinetics); multi-fluid models, based on the solution to the hydrodynamic equations; global (spatially-average) models, based on the solution to the particle and energy rate-balance equations for the main plasma species, usually including a very complete reaction chemistry; mesoscopic models for plasma–surface interaction, adopting either a deterministic approach or a stochastic dynamical Monte-Carlo approach. For each plasma model, the paper puts forward the physics context, introduces the fundamental equations, presents advantages and limitations, also from a numerical perspective, and illustrates its application with some examples. Whenever pertinent, the interconnection between models is also discussed, in view of multi-scale hybrid approaches.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000425688600001 Publication Date 2018-02-20  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited 17 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes The authors would like to thank A Tejero-Del-Caz and A Berthelot for their technical contributions in writing the manuscript. This work was partially funded by Portuguese FCT —Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under projects UID/ FIS/50010/2013, PTDC/FISPLA/1243/2014 (KIT-PLAS- MEBA) and PTDC/FIS-PLA/1420/2014 (PREMiERE). Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:149391 Serial 4810  
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Author Bal, K.M.; Huygh, S.; Bogaerts, A.; Neyts, E.C. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Effect of plasma-induced surface charging on catalytic processes: application to CO2activation Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2018 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 024001  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Understanding the nature and effect of the multitude of plasma–surface interactions in plasma catalysis is a crucial requirement for further process development and improvement. A particularly intriguing and rather unique property of a plasma-catalytic setup is the ability of the plasma to modify the electronic structure, and hence chemical properties, of the catalyst through charging, i.e. the absorption of excess electrons. In this work, we develop a quantum chemical model based on density functional theory to study excess negative surface charges in a heterogeneous catalyst exposed to a plasma. This method is specifically applied to investigate plasma-catalytic CO2 activation on supported M/Al2O3 (M=Ti, Ni, Cu) single atom catalysts. We find that (1) the presence of a negative surface charge dramatically improves the reductive power of the catalyst, strongly promoting the splitting of CO2 to CO and oxygen, and (2) the relative activity of the investigated transition metals is also changed upon charging, suggesting that controlled surface charging is a powerful additional parameter to tune catalyst activity and selectivity. These results strongly point to plasma-induced surface charging of the catalyst as an important factor contributing to the plasma-catalyst synergistic effects frequently reported for plasma catalysis.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000424520100001 Publication Date 2018-02-07  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited 19 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes KMB is funded as PhD fellow (aspirant) of the FWO-Flanders (Research Foundation—Flanders), Grant 11V8915N. The computational resources and services used in this work were provided by the VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the FWO and the Flemish Government— department EWI. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:149285 Serial 4813  
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Author Zhang, Q.-Z.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Propagation of a plasma streamer in catalyst pores Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2018 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 27 Issue 3 Pages 035009  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Although plasma catalysis is gaining increasing interest for various environmental applications, the underlying mechanisms are still far from understood. For instance, it is not yet clear whether and how plasma streamers can propagate in catalyst pores, and what is the minimum pore size to make this happen. As this is crucial information to ensure good plasma-catalyst interaction, we study here the mechanism of plasma streamer propagation in a catalyst pore, by means of a twodimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision model, for various pore diameters in the nm range to μm-range. The so-called Debye length is an important criterion for plasma penetration into catalyst pores, i.e. a plasma streamer can penetrate into pores when their diameter is larger than the Debye length. The Debye length is typically in the order of a few 100 nm up to 1 μm at the conditions under study, depending on electron density and temperature in the plasma streamer. For pores in the range of ∼50 nm, plasma can thus only penetrate to some extent and at

very short times, i.e. at the beginning of a micro-discharge, before the actual plasma streamer reaches the catalyst surface and a sheath is formed in front of the surface. We can make plasma streamers penetrate into smaller pores (down to ca. 500 nm at the conditions under study) by increasing the applied voltage, which yields a higher plasma density, and thus reduces the Debye length. Our simulations also reveal that the plasma streamers induce surface charging of the catalyst pore sidewalls, causing discharge enhancement inside the pore, depending on pore diameter and depth.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000427976800001 Publication Date 2018-03-20  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited 16 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes We acknowledge financial support from the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship within H2020 (Grant Agreement 702604) and from the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) (Excellence of Science Program; EOS ID 30505023). This work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:150877 Serial 4954  
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Author Zhang, Q.-Z.; Wang, W.-Z.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Importance of surface charging during plasma streamer propagation in catalyst pores Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2018 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 27 Issue 6 Pages 065009  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Plasma catalysis is gaining increasing interest, but the underlying mechanisms are far from understood. Different catalyst materials will have different chemical effects, but in addition, they might also have different dielectric constants, which will affect surface charging, and thus the plasma behavior. In this work, we demonstrate that surface charging plays an important role in the streamer propagation and discharge enhancement inside catalyst pores, and in the plasma distribution along the dielectric surface, and this role greatly depends on the dielectric constant of the material. For εr50, surface charging causes the plasma to spread along the dielectric surface and inside the pores, leading to deeper plasma streamer penetration, while for εr>50 or for metallic coatings, the discharge is more localized, due to very weak surface charging. In addition, at εr=50, the significant surface charge density near the pore entrance causes a large potential drop at the sharp pore edges, which induces a strong electric field and results in most pronounced plasma enhancement near the pore entrance.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000436845700002 Publication Date 2018-06-27  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited 13 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes We acknowledge financial support from the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship within H2020 (Grant Agreement 702604) and from the TOP-BOF project of the University of Antwerp. This work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:152243 Serial 4995  
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Author Zhang, Y.-R.; Neyts, E.C.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Enhancement of plasma generation in catalyst pores with different shapes Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2018 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 27 Issue 5 Pages 055008  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Plasma generation inside catalyst pores is of utmost importance for plasma catalysis, as the existence of plasma species inside the pores affects the active surface area of the catalyst available to the plasma species for catalytic reactions. In this paper, the electric field enhancement, and thus the plasma production inside catalyst pores with different pore shapes is studied with a two-dimensional fluid model. The results indicate that the electric field will be significantly enhanced near tip-like structures. In a conical pore with small opening, the strongest electric field appears at the opening and bottom corners of the pore, giving rise to a prominent ionization rate throughout the pore. For a cylindrical pore, the electric field is only enhanced at the bottom corners of the pore, with lower absolute value, and thus the ionization rate inside the pore is only slightly enhanced. Finally, in a conical pore with large opening, the electric field is characterized by a maximum at the bottom of the pore, yielding a similar behavior for the ionization rate. These results demonstrate that the shape of the pore has a significantly influence on the electric field enhancement, and thus modifies the plasma properties.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000432351700002 Publication Date 2018-05-15  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited 11 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This work was supported by the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) (Grant No. G.0217.14N) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. DUT17LK52). Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:151546 Serial 4998  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Kolev, S.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Three-dimensional modeling of energy transport in a gliding arc discharge in argon Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2018 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 27 Issue 12 Pages 125011  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; gliding arc discharge, sliding arc discharge, energy transport, fluid plasma model, atmospheric pressure plasmas; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract In this work we study energy transport in a gliding arc discharge with two diverging flat

electrodes in argon gas at atmospheric pressure. The discharge is ignited at the shortest electrode

gap and it is pushed downstream by a forced gas flow. The current values considered are

relatively low and therefore a non-equilibrium plasma is produced. We consider two cases, i.e.

with high and low discharge current (28 mA and 2.8mA), and a constant gas flow of 10 lmin −1 ,

with a significant turbulent component to the velocity. The study presents an analysis of the

various energy transport mechanisms responsible for the redistribution of Joule heating to the

plasma species and the moving background gas. The objective of this work is to provide a

general understanding of the role of the different energy transport mechanisms in arc formation

and sustainment, which can be used to improve existing or new discharge designs. The work is

based on a three-dimensional numerical model, combining a fluid plasma model, the shear stress

transport Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes turbulent gas flow model, and a model for gas

thermal balance. The obtained results show that at higher current the discharge is constricted

within a thin plasma column several hundred kelvin above room temperature, while in the low-

current discharge the combination of intense convective cooling and low Joule heating prevents

discharge contraction and the plasma column evolves to a static non-moving diffusive plasma,

continuously cooled by the flowing gas. As a result, the energy transport in the two cases is

determined by different mechanisms. At higher current and a constricted plasma column, the

plasma column is cooled mainly by turbulent transport, while at low current and an unconstricted

plasma, the major cooling mechanism is energy transport due to non-turbulent gas convection. In

general, the study also demonstrates the importance of turbulent energy transport in

redistributing the Joule heating in the arc and its significant role in arc cooling and the formation

of the gas temperature profile. In general, the turbulent energy transport lowers the average gas

temperature in the arc, thus allowing additional control of thermal non-equilibrium in the

discharge.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000454555600005 Publication Date 2018-12-28  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes This work was supported by the European Regional Devel- opment Fund within the Operational Programme ’Science and Education for Smart Growth 2014 – 2020’ under the Project CoE ’National center of mechatronics and clean technologies’ BG05M2OP001-1.001-0008-C01, and by the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (FWO); grant no G.0383.16N. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:155973 Serial 5140  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Zhang, Q.-Z.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Capacitive electrical asymmetry effect in an inductively coupled plasma reactor Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2018 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 27 Issue 10 Pages 105019  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; electrical asymmetry effect, inductively coupled plasma, self-bias, independent control of the ion fluxes and ion energy; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract The electrical asymmetry effect is realized by applying multiple frequency power sources

(13.56 MHz and 27.12 MHz) to a capacitively biased substrate electrode in a specific inductively

coupled plasma reactor. On the one hand, by adjusting the phase angle θ between the multiple

frequency power sources, an almost linear self-bias develops on the substrate electrode, and

consequently the ion energy can be well modulated, while the ion flux stays constant within a

large range of θ. On the other hand, the plasma density and ion flux can be significantly

modulated by tuning the inductive power supply, while only inducing a small change in the self-

bias. Independent control of self-bias/ion energy and ion flux can thus be realized in this specific

inductively coupled plasma reactor.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000448434100001 Publication Date 2018-10-26  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited 1 Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes We acknowledge financial support from the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship within H2020 (Grant Agreement 702604). This work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:155506 Serial 5069  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Zhang, Q.-Z.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma streamer propagation in structured catalysts Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2018 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 27 Issue 10 Pages 105013  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; plasma catalysis, streamer propagation, 3D structures, PIC/MCC; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract Plasma catalysis is gaining increasing interest for various environmental applications. Catalytic

material can be inserted in different shapes in the plasma, e.g., as pellets, (coated) beads, but also

as honeycomb monolith and 3DFD structures, also called ‘structured catalysts’, which have high

mass and heat transfer properties. In this work, we examine the streamer discharge propagation

and the interaction between plasma and catalysts, inside the channels of such structured catalysts,

by means of a two-dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision model. Our results reveal

that plasma streamers behave differently in various structured catalysts. In case of a honeycomb

structure, the streamers are limited to only one channel, with low or high plasma density when

the channels are parallel or perpendicular to the electrodes, respectively. In contrast, in case of a

3DFD structure, the streamers can distribute to different channels, causing discharge

enhancement due to surface charging on the dielectric walls of the structured catalyst, and

especially giving rise to a broader plasma distribution. The latter should be beneficial for plasma

catalysis applications, as it allows a larger catalyst surface area to be exposed to the plasma.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000448131900002 Publication Date 2018-10-22  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited 3 Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes We acknowledge financial support from the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship within H2020 (Grant Agreement 702604). This work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:155510 Serial 5068  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Sun, S.R.; Wang, H.X.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Chemistry reduction of complex CO2chemical kinetics: application to a gliding arc plasma Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 29 Issue 2 Pages 025012  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract A gliding arc (GA) plasma has great potential for CO2 conversion into value-added chemicals, because of its high energy efficiency. To improve the application, a 2D/3D fluid model is needed to investigate the CO2 conversion mechanisms in the actual discharge geometry. Therefore, the complex CO2 chemical kinetics description must be reduced due to the huge computational cost associated with 2D/3D models. This paper presents a chemistry reduction method for CO2 plasmas, based on the so-called directed relation graph method. Depending on the defined threshold values, some marginal species are identified. By means of a sensitivity analysis, we can further reduce the chemistry set by removing one by one the marginal species. Based on the socalled flux-sensitivity coupling, we obtain a reduced CO2 kinetics model, consisting of 36 or 15 species (depending on whether the 21 asymmetric mode vibrational states of CO2 are explicitly included or lumped into one group), which is applied to a GA discharge. The results are compared with those predicted with the full chemistry set, and very good agreement is reached. Moreover, the range of validity of the reduced CO2 chemistry set is checked, telling us that this reduced set is suitable for low power GA discharges. Finally, the time and spatial evolution of the CO2 plasma characteristics are presented, based on a 2D model with the reduced kinetics.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000525600600001 Publication Date 2020-02-11  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access  
  Notes We acknowledge financial support from the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO; Grant No. G.0383.16 N). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. This work was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. (Grant Nos. 11735004, 11575019). SR Sun thanks the financial support from the National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (BX20180029). Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2020 IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:167135 Serial 6338  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author van ‘t Veer, K.; Reniers, F.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Zero-dimensional modeling of unpacked and packed bed dielectric barrier discharges: the role of vibrational kinetics in ammonia synthesis Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 29 Issue 4 Pages 045020  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract We present a zero-dimensional plasma kinetics model, including both surface and gas phase kinetics, to determine the role of vibrationally excited states in plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis. We defined a new method to systematically capture the conditions of dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs), including those found in packed bed DBDs. We included the spatial and temporal nature of such discharges by special consideration of the number of micro-discharges in the model. We introduce a parameter that assigns only a part of the plasma power to the microdischarges, to scale the model conditions from filamentary to uniform plasma. Because of the spatial and temporal behaviour of the micro-discharges, not all micro-discharges occurring in the plasma reactor during a certain gas residence time are affecting the molecules. The fraction of power considered in the model ranges from 0.005 %, for filamentary plasma, to 100 %, for uniform plasma. If vibrational excitation is included in the plasma chemistry, these different conditions, however, yield an ammonia density that is only varying within one order of magnitude. At only 0.05 % of the power put into the uniform plasma component, a model neglecting vibrational excitation clearly does not result in adequate amounts of ammonia. Thus, our new model, which accounts for the concept in which not all the power is deposited by the micro-discharges, but some part may also be distributed in between them, suggests that vibrational kinetic processes are really important in (packed bed) DBDs. Indeed, vibrational excitation takes place in both the uniform plasma between the micro-discharges and in the strong micro-discharges, and is responsible for an increased N2 dissociation rate. This is shown here for plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis, but might also be valid for other gas conversion applications.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000570241500001 Publication Date 2020-04-09  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access  
  Notes This research was supported by the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Fatme Jardali for the discussions on plasma kinetic modelling and Dr. Jungmi Hong and Dr. Anthony B. Murphy for their aid in the calculation of the diffusion coefficients. Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2020 IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:168097 Serial 6359  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Zhang, H.; Zhang, H.; Trenchev, G.; Li, X.; Wu, Y.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Multi-dimensional modelling of a magnetically stabilized gliding arc plasma in argon and CO2 Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 29 Issue 4 Pages 045019  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract This study focuses on a magnetically stabilized gliding arc (MGA) plasma. Two fully coupled flow-plasma models (in 3D and 2D) are presented. The 3D model is applied to compare the arc dynamics of the MGA with a traditional gas-driven gliding arc. The 2D model is used for a detailed parametric study on the effect of the external magnetic field. The results show that the relative velocity between the plasma and feed gas is generated due to the Lorentz force, which can increase the plasma-treated gas fraction. The magnetic field also helps to decrease the gas temperature by enhancing heat transfer and to increase the electron number density. This work shows the potential of an external magnetic field to control the gliding arc behavior, for enhanced gas conversion at low gas flow rates.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000570241800001 Publication Date 2020-04-09  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access  
  Notes Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, G.0383.16N ; National Natural Science Foundation of China, 51706204 51707144 ; State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, EIPE19302 ; The authors acknowledge financial support from the Fund for Scientific Research—Flanders (FWO; Grant G.0383.16 N), National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 51706204, 51707144, and State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment (EIPE19302). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (Department EWI), and Universiteit Antwerpen. Finally, Hantian Zhang acknowledges financial support from the China Scholarship Council. Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2020 IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:169218 Serial 6360  
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Author Verheyen, C.; Silva, T.; Guerra, V.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title The effect of H2O on the vibrational populations of CO2in a CO2/H2O microwave plasma: a kinetic modelling investigation Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 29 Issue 9 Pages 095009  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Plasma has been studied for several years to convert CO2 into value-added products. If CO2 could be converted in the presence of H2O as a cheap H-source for making syngas and oxygenates, it would mimic natural photosynthesis. However, CO2/H2O plasmas have not yet been extensively studied, not by experiments, and certainly not computationally. Therefore, we present here a kinetic modelling study to obtain a greater understanding of the vibrational kinetics of a CO2/H2O microwave plasma. For this purpose, we first created an electron impact cross section set for H2O, using a swarm-derived method. We added the new cross section set and CO2/H2O-related chemistry to a pure CO2 model. While it was expected that H2O addition mainly causes quenching of the CO2 asymmetric mode vibrational levels due to the additional CO2/H2O vibrational-translational relaxation, our model shows that the modifications in the vibrational kinetics are mainly induced by the strong electron dissociative attachment to H2O molecules, causing a reduction in electron density, and the corresponding changes in the input of energy into the CO2 vibrational levels by electron impact processes.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000570601300001 Publication Date 2020-09-16  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access  
  Notes Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 1184820N ; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under projects UIDB/50010/2020 and ; This research was supported by FWO–PhD fellowshipaspirant, Grant 1184820N. VG and TS were partially supported by the Portuguese FCT, under projects UIDB/50010/2020 and UIDP/50010/2020 Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2020 IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:172011 Serial 6433  
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Author Kelly, S.; van de Steeg, A.; Hughes, A.; van Rooij, G.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Thermal instability and volume contraction in a pulsed microwave N2plasma at sub-atmospheric pressure Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 30 Issue 5 Pages 055005  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract We studied the evolution of an isolated pulsed plasma in a vortex flow stabilised microwave (MW) discharge in N2 at 25 mbar via the combination of 0D kinetics modelling, iCCD imaging and laser scattering diagnostics. Quenching of electronically excited N2 results in fast gas heating and the onset of a thermal-ionisation instability, contracting the discharge volume. The onset of a thermal-ionisation instability driven by vibrational excitation pathways is found to facilitate significantly higher N2 conversion (i.e. dissociation to atomic N2 ) compared to pre-instability conditions, emphasizing the potential utility of this dynamic in future fixation applications. The instability onset is found to be instigated by super-elastic heating of the electron energy distribution tail via vibrationally excited N2 . Radial contraction of the discharge to the skin depth is found to occur post instability, while the axial elongation is found to be temporarily contracted during the thermal instability onset. An increase in power reflection during the thermal instability onset eventually limits the destabilising effects of exothermic electronically excited N2 quenching. Translational and vibrational temperature reach a quasi-non-equilibrium after the discharge contraction, with translational temperatures reaching ∼1200 K at the pulse end, while vibrational temperatures are found in near equilibrium with the electron energy (1 eV, or ∼11 600 K). This first description of the importance of electronically excited N2 quenching in thermal instabilities gives an additional fundamental understanding of N2 plasma behaviour in pulsed MW context, and thereby brings the eventual implementation of this novel N2 fixation method one step closer.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000648710900001 Publication Date 2021-05-01  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen, 733.000.002 ; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 30505023 GoF9618n ; H2020 European Research Council, 810182 ; H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, 813393 838181 ; SK & AB acknowledge financial support by the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship ‘PENFIX’ within Horizon 2020 (Grant No. 838181), the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 810182—SCOPE ERC Synergy project), and the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO Grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Centre VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. SK and AB would like to thank Mr Luc van ’t dack, Dr Karen Leyssens and Ing. Karel Venken for their technical assistance. AvdS, AH and GvR are grateful to Ampleon for the use of their solid-state microwave amplifier units and acknowledge financial support from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO Grant No. 733.000.002) in the framework of the CO2 -to-products programme with kind support from Shell, and the ENW PPP Fund for the top sectors. This project has been partially funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ‘Pioneer’ under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 813393. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:178122 Serial 6759  
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Author Bahnamiri, O.S.; Verheyen, C.; Snyders, R.; Bogaerts, A.; Britun, N. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Nitrogen fixation in pulsed microwave discharge studied by infrared absorption combined with modelling Type A1 Journal Article;nitrogen fixation
  Year 2021 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 30 Issue 6 Pages 065007  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article;nitrogen fixation; pulsed microwave discharge; FTIR spectroscopy; discharge modelling; vibrational excitation; NO yield; energy cost; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract A pulsed microwave surfaguide discharge operating at 2.45 GHz was used for the conversion of molecular nitrogen into valuable compounds in several gas mixtures: N2 :O2 , N2 :O2 :CO2 and N2 :CO2 . The ro-vibrational absorption bands of the molecular species were monitored by a Fourier transform infrared apparatus in the post-discharge region in order to evaluate the relative number density of species, specifically NO production. The effects of specific energy input, pulse frequency, gas flow fraction, gas admixture and gas flow rate were studied for better understanding and optimization of the NO production yield and the corresponding energy cost (EC). By both the experiment and modelling, a highest NO yield is obtained at N2 :O2 (1:1) gas ratio in N2 :O2 mixture. The NO yield reveals a small growth followed by saturation when pulse repetition frequency increases. The energy efficiency start decreasing after the energy input reaches about 5 eV/molec, whereas the NO yield rises steadily at the same time. The lowest EC of about 8 MJ mol−1 corresponding to the yield and the energy efficiency of about 7% and 1% are found, respectively, in an optimum discharge condition in our case.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000659671000001 Publication Date 2021-06-01  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique—FNRS, EOS O005118F ; The research is supported by the FNRS-FWO project ‘NITROPLASM’, EOS O005118F. O Samadi also acknowledges PhD student F Manaigo for cooperation in doing the additional measurements. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:179170 Serial 6798  
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Author Zhang, L.; Heijkers, S.; Wang, W.; Martini, L.M.; Tosi, P.; Yang, D.; Fang, Z.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Dry reforming of methane in a nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharge: chemical kinetics modeling Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 055014  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Nanosecond pulsed discharge plasma shows a high degree of non-equilibrium, and exhibits relatively high conversions in the dry reforming of methane. To further improve the application, a good insight of the underlying mechanisms is desired. We developed a chemical kinetics model to explore the underlying plasma chemistry in nanosecond pulsed discharge. We compared the calculated conversions and product selectivities with experimental results, and found reasonable agreement in a wide range of specific energy input. Hence, the chemical kinetics model is able to provide insight in the underlying plasma chemistry. The modeling results predict that the most important dissociation reaction of CO<sub>2</sub>and CH<sub>4</sub>is electron impact dissociation. C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub>is the most abundant hydrocarbon product, and it is mainly formed upon reaction of two CH<sub>2</sub>radicals. Furthermore, the vibrational excitation levels of CO<sub>2</sub>contribute for 85% to the total dissociation of CO<sub>2</sub>.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000797660000001 Publication Date 2022-05-01  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes China Scholarship Council; National Natural Science Foundation of China, 11965018 ; This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52077026, 11965018), L Zhang was also supported by the China Scholarship Council (CSC). Data availability statement The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the authors. Approved Most recent IF: 3.8  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:188537 Serial 7069  
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Author Bogaerts, A.; Neyts, E.C.; Guaitella, O.; Murphy, A.B. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Foundations of plasma catalysis for environmental applications Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume Issue Pages  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Plasma catalysis is gaining increasing interest for various applications, but the underlying mechanisms are still far from understood. Hence, more fundamental research is needed to understand these mechanisms. This can be obtained by both modelling and experiments. This foundations paper describes the fundamental insights in plasma catalysis, as well as efforts to gain more insights by modelling and experiments. Furthermore, it discusses the state-of-the-art of the major plasma catalysis applications, as well as successes and challenges of technology transfer of these applications.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000804396200001 Publication Date 2022-03-21  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, 823745 ; H2020 European Research Council, 810182 ; We acknowldege financial support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 813393 (PIONEER). Approved Most recent IF: 3.8  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:188539 Serial 7070  
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Author Biondo, O.; Fromentin, C.; Silva, T.; Guerra, V.; van Rooij, G.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Insights into the limitations to vibrational excitation of CO2: validation of a kinetic model with pulsed glow discharge experiments Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 31 Issue 7 Pages 074003  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Vibrational excitation represents an efficient channel to drive the dissociation of CO<sub>2</sub>in a non-thermal plasma. Its viability is investigated in low-pressure pulsed discharges, with the intention of selectively exciting the asymmetric stretching mode, leading to stepwise excitation up to the dissociation limit of the molecule. Gas heating is crucial for the attainability of this process, since the efficiency of vibration–translation (V–T) relaxation strongly depends on temperature, creating a feedback mechanism that can ultimately thermalize the discharge. Indeed, recent experiments demonstrated that the timeframe of V–T non-equilibrium is limited to a few milliseconds at ca. 6 mbar, and shrinks to the<italic>μ</italic>s-scale at 100 mbar. With the aim of backtracking the origin of gas heating in pure CO<sub>2</sub>plasma, we perform a kinetic study to describe the energy transfers under typical non-thermal plasma conditions. The validation of our kinetic scheme with pulsed glow discharge experiments enables to depict the gas heating dynamics. In particular, we pinpoint the role of vibration–vibration–translation relaxation in redistributing the energy from asymmetric to symmetric levels of CO<sub>2</sub>, and the importance of collisional quenching of CO<sub>2</sub>electronic states in triggering the heating feedback mechanism in the sub-millisecond scale. This latter finding represents a novelty for the modelling of low-pressure pulsed discharges and we suggest that more attention should be paid to it in future studies. Additionally, O atoms convert vibrational energy into heat, speeding up the feedback loop. The efficiency of these heating pathways, even at relatively low gas temperature and pressure, underpins the lifetime of V–T non-equilibrium and suggests a redefinition of the optimal conditions to exploit the ‘ladder-climbing’ mechanism in CO<sub>2</sub>discharges.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000839466500001 Publication Date 2022-07-01  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, PLA/0076/2021 ; H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, 813393 ; This research was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 813393 (PIONEER). V Guerra and T Silva were partially funded by the Portuguese ‘FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia’, under Projects UIDB/50010/2020, UIDP/50010/2020, PTDC/FISPLA/1616/2021 and EXPL/FIS-PLA/0076/2021. The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. Approved Most recent IF: 3.8  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:190008 Serial 7106  
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Author Tennyson, J.; Mohr, S.; Hanicinec, M.; Dzarasova, A.; Smith, C.; Waddington, S.; Liu, B.; Alves, L.L.; Bartschat, K.; Bogaerts, A.; Engelmann, S.U.; Gans, T.; Gibson, A.R.; Hamaguchi, S.; Hamilton, K.R.; Hill, C.; O’Connell, D.; Rauf, S.; van ’t Veer, K.; Zatsarinny, O. url  doi
openurl 
  Title The 2021 release of the Quantemol database (QDB) of plasma chemistries and reactions Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci T  
  Volume 31 Issue 9 Pages 095020  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The Quantemol database (QDB) provides cross sections and rates of processes important for plasma models; heavy particle collisions (chemical reactions) and electron collision processes are considered. The current version of QDB has data on 28 917 processes between 2485 distinct species plus data for surface processes. These data are available via a web interface or can be delivered directly to plasma models using an application program interface; data are available in formats suitable for direct input into a variety of popular plasma modeling codes including HPEM, COMSOL, ChemKIN, CFD-ACE+, and VisGlow. QDB provides ready assembled plasma chemistries plus the ability to build bespoke chemistries. The database also provides a Boltzmann solver for electron dynamics and a zero-dimensional model. Thesedevelopments, use cases involving O<sub>2</sub>, Ar/NF<sub>3</sub>, Ar/NF<sub>3</sub>/O<sub>2</sub>, and He/H<sub>2</sub>O/O<sub>2</sub>chemistries, and plans for the future are presented.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000895762200001 Publication Date 2022-09-01  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EP/N509577/1 ; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, UIDB/50010/2020 ; Science and Technology Facilities Council, ST/K004069/1 ; National Science Foundation, OAC-1834740 ; Approved Most recent IF: 3.8  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:192845 Serial 7245  
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Author Bissonnette-Dulude, J.; Heirman, P.; Coulombe, S.; Bogaerts, A.; Gervais, T.; Reuter, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Coupling the COST reference plasma jet to a microfluidic device: a computational study Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2024 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.  
  Volume 33 Issue 1 Pages 015001  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The use of microfluidic devices in the field of plasma-liquid interaction can unlock unique possibilities to investigate the effects of plasma-generated reactive species for environmental and biomedical applications. So far, very little simulation work has been performed on microfluidic devices in contact with a plasma source. We report on the modelling and computational simulation of physical and chemical processes taking place in a novel plasma-microfluidic platform. The main production and transport pathways of reactive species both in plasma and liquid are modelled by a novel modelling approach that combines 0D chemical kinetics and 2D transport mechanisms. This combined approach, applicable to systems where the transport of chemical species occurs in unidirectional flows at high Péclet numbers, decreases calculation times considerably compared to regular 2D simulations. It takes advantage of the low computational time of the 0D reaction models while providing spatial information through multiple plug-flow simulations to yield a quasi-2D model. The gas and liquid flow profiles are simulated entirely in 2D, together with the chemical reactions and transport of key chemical species. The model correctly predicts increased transport of hydrogen peroxide into the liquid when the microfluidic opening is placed inside the plasma effluent region, as opposed to inside the plasma region itself. Furthermore, the modelled hydrogen peroxide production and transport in the microfluidic liquid differs by less than 50% compared with experimental results. To explain this discrepancy, the limits of the 0D–2D combined approach are discussed.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 001136607100001 Publication Date 2024-01-01  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, RGPIN-06820 ; FWO, 1100421N ; McGill University, the TransMedTech Institute; Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2024 IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:202783 Serial 8990  
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Author Vanraes, P.; Parayil Venugopalan, S.; Besemer, M.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Assessing neutral transport mechanisms in aspect ratio dependent etching by means of experiments and multiscale plasma modeling Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2023 Publication Plasma Sources Science and Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.  
  Volume 32 Issue 6 Pages 064004  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract Since the onset of pattern transfer technologies for chip manufacturing, various strategies have been developed to circumvent or overcome aspect ratio dependent etching (ARDE). These methods have, however, their own limitations in terms of etch non-idealities, throughput or costs. Moreover, they have mainly been optimized for individual in-device features and die-scale patterns, while occasionally ending up with poor patterning of metrology marks, affecting the alignment and overlay in lithography. Obtaining a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of ARDE and how to mitigate them therefore remains a relevant challenge to date, for both marks and advanced nodes. In this work, we accordingly assessed the neutral transport mechanisms in ARDE by means of experiments and multiscale modeling for SiO<sub>2</sub>etching with CHF<sub>3</sub>/Ar and CF<sub>4</sub>/Ar plasmas. The experiments revealed a local maximum in the etch rate for an aspect ratio around unity, i.e. the simultaneous occurrence of regular and inverse reactive ion etching lag for a given etch condition. We were able to reproduce this ARDE trend in the simulations without taking into account charging effects and the polymer layer thickness, suggesting shadowing and diffuse reflection of neutrals as the primary underlying mechanisms. Subsequently, we explored four methods with the simulations to regulate ARDE, by varying the incident plasma species fluxes, the amount of polymer deposition, the ion energy and angular distribution and the initial hardmask sidewall angle, for which the latter was found to be promising in particular. Although our study focusses on feature dimensions characteristic to metrology marks and back-end-of-the-line integration, the obtained insights have a broader relevance, e.g. to the patterning of advanced nodes. Additionally, this work supports the insight that physisorption may be more important in plasma etching at room temperature than originally thought, in line with other recent studies, a topic on which we recommend further research.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 001021250100001 Publication Date 2023-06-01  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes P Vanraes acknowledges funding by ASML for the project ‘Computational simulation of plasma etching of trench structures’. P Vanraes and A Bogaerts want to express their gratitude to Mark J Kushner (University of Michigan) for the sharing of the HPEM and MCFPM codes, and for the interesting exchange of views. P Vanraes wishes to thank Violeta Georgieva and Stefan Tinck for the fruitful discussions on the HPEM code, Yu-Ru Zhang for an example of the CCP reactor code and Karel Venken for his technical help with the server maintenance and use. S P Venugopalan and M Besemer wish to thank Luigi Scaccabarozzi, Sander Wuister, Coen Verschuren, Michael Kubis, Kuan-Ming Chen, Ruben Maas, Huaichen Zhang and Julien Mailfert (ASML) for the insightful discussions. Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2023 IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:197760 Serial 8811  
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Author Albrechts, M.; Tsonev, I.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Investigation of O atom kinetics in O2plasma and its afterglow Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2024 Publication Plasma Sources Science and Technology Abbreviated Journal (up) Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.  
  Volume 33 Issue 4 Pages 045017  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; oxygen plasma, pseudo-1D plug-flow kinetic model, O atoms, low-pressure validation, atmospheric pressure microwave torch; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract We have developed a comprehensive kinetic model to study the O atom kinetics in an O<sub>2</sub>plasma and its afterglow. By adopting a pseudo-1D plug-flow formalism within the kinetic model, our aim is to assess how far the O atoms travel in the plasma afterglow, evaluating its potential as a source of O atoms for post-plasma gas conversion applications. Since we could not find experimental data for pure O<sub>2</sub>plasma at atmospheric pressure, we first validated our model at low pressure (1–10 Torr) where very good experimental data are available. Good agreement between our model and experiments was achieved for the reduced electric field, gas temperature and the densities of the dominant neutral species, i.e. O<sub>2</sub>(a), O<sub>2</sub>(b) and O. Subsequently, we confirmed that the chemistry set is consistent with thermodynamic equilibrium calculations at atmospheric pressure. Finally, we investigated the O atom densities in the O<sub>2</sub>plasma and its afterglow, for which we considered a microwave O<sub>2</sub>plasma torch, operating at a pressure between 0.1 and 1 atm, for a flow rate of 20 slm and an specific energy input of 1656 kJ mol<sup>−1</sup>. Our results show that for both pressure conditions, a high dissociation degree of ca. 92% is reached within the discharge. However, the O atoms travel much further in the plasma afterglow for<italic>p</italic>= 0.1 atm (9.7 cm) than for<italic>p</italic>= 1 atm (1.4 cm), attributed to the longer lifetime (3.8 ms at 0.1 atm vs 1.8 ms at 1 atm) resulting from slower three-body recombination kinetics, as well as a higher volumetric flow rate.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 001209453500001 Publication Date 2024-04-01  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record  
  Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited Open Access  
  Notes This research was supported by the Horizon Europe Framework Program ‘Research and Innovation Actions’ (RIA), Project CANMILK (Grant No. 101069491). Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2024 IF: 3.302  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:205920 Serial 9125  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Kamaraj, B.; Bogaerts, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Structure and function of p53-DNA complexes with inactivation and rescue mutations : a molecular dynamics simulation study Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2015 Publication PLoS ONE Abbreviated Journal (up) Plos One  
  Volume 10 Issue 10 Pages e0134638  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The tumor suppressor protein p53 can lose its function upon DNA-contact mutations (R273C and R273H) in the core DNA-binding domain. The activity can be restored by second-site suppressor or rescue mutations (R273CT284R, R273HT284R, and R273HS240R). In this paper, we elucidate the structural and functional consequence of p53 proteins upon DNA-contact mutations and rescue mutations and the underlying mechanisms at the atomic level by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Furthermore, we also apply the docking approach to investigate the binding phenomena between the p53 protein and DNA upon DNA-contact mutations and rescue mutations. This study clearly illustrates that, due to DNA-contact mutants, the p53 structure loses its stability and becomes more rigid than the native protein. This structural loss might affect the p53-DNA interaction and leads to inhibition of the cancer suppression. Rescue mutants (R273CT284R, R273HT284R and R273HS240R) can restore the functional activity of the p53 protein upon DNA-contact mutations and show a good interaction between the p53 protein and a DNA molecule, which may lead to reactivate the cancer suppression function. Understanding the effects of p53 cancer and rescue mutations at the molecular level will be helpful for designing drugs for p53 associated cancer diseases. These drugs should be designed so that they can help to inhibit the abnormal function of the p53 protein and to reactivate the p53 function (cell apoptosis) to treat human cancer.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000359061400096 Publication Date 2015-08-05  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1932-6203; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 2.806 Times cited Open Access  
  Notes Approved Most recent IF: 2.806; 2015 IF: 3.234  
  Call Number c:irua:126779 Serial 3278  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Mannaerts, D.; Faes, E.; Cos, P.; Briedé, J.J.; Gyselaers, W.; Cornette, J.; Gorbanev, Y.; Bogaerts, A.; Spaanderman, M.; Van Craenenbroeck, E.; Jacquemyn, Y.; Torrens, C. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Oxidative stress in healthy pregnancy and preeclampsia is linked to chronic inflammation, iron status and vascular function Type University Hospital Antwerp
  Year 2018 Publication PLoS ONE Abbreviated Journal (up) Plos One  
  Volume 13 Issue 9 Pages e0202919  
  Keywords University Hospital Antwerp; A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Antwerp Surgical Training, Anatomy and Research Centre (ASTARC); Translational Pathophysiological Research (TPR)  
  Abstract Background

During normal pregnancy, placental oxidative stress (OS) is present during all three trimesters and is necessary to obtain normal cell function. However, if OS reaches a certain level, pregnancy complications might arise. In preeclampsia (PE), a dangerous pregnancy specific hypertensive disorder, OS induced in the ischemic placenta causes a systemic inflammatory response and activates maternal endothelial cells. In this study, we aimed to quantify superoxide concentrations (as a measure of systemic OS) using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and correlate them to markers of systemic inflammation, iron status and vascular function.

Methods

Fifty-nine women with a healthy pregnancy (HP), 10 non-pregnant controls (NP) and 28 PE patients (32±3.3weeks) were included. During HP, blood samples for superoxide, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), mean platelet volume (MPV) and iron status were taken at 10, 25 and 39 weeks. Vascular measurements for arterial stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV), augmentation index (AIx), augmentation Pressure (AP)) and microvascular endothelial function (reactive hyperemia index (RHI)) were performed at 35 weeks. In PE, all measurements were performed at diagnosis. CMH (1-hydroxy-3-methoxycarbonyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrrolidine) was used as spin probe for EPR, since the formed CM radical

corresponds to the amount of superoxide.

Results

Superoxide concentration remains stable during pregnancy (p = 0.92), but is significantly higher compared to the NP controls (p<0.0001). At 25 weeks, there is a significant positive correlation between superoxide and ferritin concentration. (p = 0.04) In PE, superoxide, systemic inflammation and iron status are much higher compared to HP (all p<0.001). During HP, superoxide concentrations correlate significantly with arterial stiffness (all p<0.04), while in PE superoxide is significantly correlated to microvascular endothelial function (p = 0.03).

Conclusions

During HP there is an increased but stable oxidative environment, which is correlated to ferritin concentration. If superoxide levels increase, there is an augmentation in arterial stiffness. In PE pregnancies, systemic inflammation and superoxide concentrations are higher and result in a deterioration of endothelial function. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that vascular function is directly linked to the amount of OS and that measurement of OS in combination with vascular function tests might be used in the prediction of PE.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000444355500010 Publication Date 2018-09-11  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1932-6203 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 2.806 Times cited 15 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This study is part of a PhD-thesis which is supported by the University of Antwerp and the Department Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Antwerp University Hospital. The University of Antwerp provides the earnings for the principal investigator (DM) who is responsible for the design of the study, data collection and interpretation and writing of the manuscript. The Antwerp University Hospital supports the financial part of data collection. EMVC is supported by the fund for scientific research-Flanders (FWO) as senior clinical investigator. Approved Most recent IF: 2.806  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:153802c:irua:153644 Serial 5048  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Bogaerts, A.; De Bie, C.; Eckert, M.; Georgieva, V.; Martens, T.; Neyts, E.; Tinck, S. pdf  doi
openurl 
  Title Modeling of the plasma chemistry and plasmasurface interactions in reactive plasmas Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2010 Publication Pure and applied chemistry Abbreviated Journal (up) Pure Appl Chem  
  Volume 82 Issue 6 Pages 1283-1299  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract In this paper, an overview is given of modeling activities going on in our research group, for describing the plasma chemistry and plasmasurface interactions in reactive plasmas. The plasma chemistry is calculated by a fluid approach or by hybrid Monte Carlo (MC)fluid modeling. An example of both is illustrated in the first part of the paper. The example of fluid modeling is given for a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in CH4/O2, to describe the partial oxidation of CH4 into value-added chemicals. The example of hybrid MCfluid modeling concerns an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etch reactor in Ar/Cl2/O2, including also the description of the etch process. The second part of the paper deals with the treatment of plasmasurface interactions on the atomic level, with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations or a combination of MD and MC simulations.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication London Editor  
  Language Wos 000279063900010 Publication Date 2010-04-21  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1365-3075;0033-4545; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 2.626 Times cited 13 Open Access  
  Notes Approved Most recent IF: 2.626; 2010 IF: 2.134  
  Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:82108 Serial 2134  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author De Backer, J.; Razzokov, J.; Hammerschmid, D.; Mensch, C.; Hafideddine, Z.; Kumar, N.; van Raemdonck, G.; Yusupov, M.; Van Doorslaer, S.; Johannessen, C.; Sobott, F.; Bogaerts, A.; Dewilde, S. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title The effect of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species on the structure of cytoglobin: A potential tumor suppressor Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2018 Publication Redox Biology Abbreviated Journal (up) Redox Biol  
  Volume 19 Issue Pages 1-10  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Molecular Spectroscopy (MolSpec)  
  Abstract Many current anti-cancer therapies rely on increasing the intracellular reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) contents with the aim to induce irreparable damage, which subsequently results in tumor cell death. A novel tool in cancer therapy is the use of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), which has been found to be very effective in the treatment of many different cancer cell types in vitro as well as in vivo, mainly through the vast generation of RONS. One of the key determinants of the cell's fate will be the interaction of RONS, generated by CAP, with important proteins, i.e. redox-regulatory proteins. One such protein is cytoglobin (CYGB), a recently discovered globin proposed to be involved in the protection of the cell against oxidative stress. In this study, the effect of plasma-produced RONS on CYGB was investigated through the treatment of CYGB with CAP for different treatment times. Spectroscopic analysis of CYGB showed that although chemical modifications occur, its secondary structure remains intact. Mass spectrometry experiments identified these modifications as oxidations of mainly sulfur-containing and aromatic amino acids. With longer treatment time, the treatment was also found to induce nitration of the heme. Furthermore, the two surface-exposed cysteine residues of CYGB were oxidized upon treatment, leading to the formation of intermolecular disulfide bridges, and potentially also intramolecular disulfide bridges. In addition, molecular dynamics and docking simulations confirmed, and further show, that the formation of an intramolecular disulfide bond, due to oxidative conditions, affects the CYGB 3D structure, thereby opening the access to the heme group, through gate functioning of His117. Altogether, the results obtained in this study (1) show that plasma-produced RONS can extensively oxidize proteins and (2) that the oxidation status of two redox-active cysteines lead to different conformations of CYGB.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000449722100002 Publication Date 2018-07-24  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2213-2317 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.337 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes M.Y. and N.K. gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO), Grant nos. 1200216N and 12J5617N. The computational work was carried out using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UA), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI). C.M acknowledges the financial support provided by the Flemish Community and the University of Antwerp (BOF-NOI) for the pre-doctoral scholarship is under grant number/project ID: 28465. S.V.D., S. D. and Z.H. acknowledge the FWO (Grant G.0687.13) and the GOA-BOF UA 2013–2016 (project-ID 28312) for funding. The computational resources and services used in this work were provided by the HPC core facility CalcUA of the Universiteit Antwerpen, and VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Government – department EWI. Approved Most recent IF: 6.337  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:152818 Serial 5006  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Yusupov, M.; Privat-Maldonado, A.; Cordeiro, R.M.; Verswyvel, H.; Shaw, P.; Razzokov, J.; Smits, E.; Bogaerts, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Oxidative damage to hyaluronan–CD44 interactions as an underlying mechanism of action of oxidative stress-inducing cancer therapy Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Redox Biology Abbreviated Journal (up) Redox Biol  
  Volume 43 Issue Pages 101968  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Center for Oncological Research (CORE)  
  Abstract Multiple cancer therapies nowadays rely on oxidative stress to damage cancer cells. Here we investigated the biological and molecular effect of oxidative stress on the interaction between CD44 and hyaluronan (HA), as interrupting their binding can hinder cancer progression. Our experiments demonstrated that the oxidation of HA decreased its recognition by CD44, which was further enhanced when both CD44 and HA were oxidized. The reduction of CD44–HA binding negatively affected the proliferative state of cancer cells. Our multi-level atomistic simulations revealed that the binding free energy of HA to CD44 decreased upon oxidation. The effect of HA and CD44 oxidation on CD44–HA binding was similar, but when both HA and CD44 were oxidized, the effect was much larger, in agreement with our experiments. Hence, our experiments and computations support our hypothesis on the role of oxidation in the disturbance of CD44–HA interaction, which can lead to the inhibition of proliferative signaling pathways inside the tumor cell to induce cell death.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000657371800005 Publication Date 2021-04-14  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2213-2317 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 6.337 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Fwo; The authors acknowledge the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the University of Antwerp (UA), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UA, where all computational work was performed. Approved Most recent IF: 6.337  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:177780 Serial 6750  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author De Backer, J.; Lin, A.; Berghe, W.V.; Bogaerts, A.; Hoogewijs, D. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Cytoglobin inhibits non-thermal plasma-induced apoptosis in melanoma cells through regulation of the NRF2-mediated antioxidant response Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Redox Biology Abbreviated Journal (up) Redox Biol  
  Volume 55 Issue Pages 102399  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Proteinscience, proteomics and epigenetic signaling (PPES)  
  Abstract Melanoma arises from pigment-producing cells called melanocytes located in the basal layers of the epidermis of the skin. Cytoglobin (CYGB) is a ubiquitously expressed hexacoordinated globin that is highly enriched in me­lanocytes and frequently downregulated during melanomagenesis. Previously, we showed that non-thermal plasma (NTP)-produced reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) lead to the formation of an intra­ molecular disulfide bridge that would allow CYGB to function as a redox-sensitive protein. Here, we investigate the cytotoxic effect of indirect NTP treatment in two melanoma cell lines with divergent endogenous CYGB expression levels, and we explore the role of CYGB in determining treatment outcome. Our findings are consistent with previous studies supporting that NTP cytotoxicity is mediated through the production of RONS and leads to apoptotic cell death in melanoma cells. Furthermore, we show that NTP-treated solutions elicit an antioxidant response through the activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (NRF2). The knock­ down and overexpression of CYGB respectively sensitizes and protects melanoma cells from RONS-induced apoptotic cell death. The presence of CYGB enhances heme-oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and NRF2 protein expression levels, whereas the absence impairs their expression. Moreover, analysis of the CYGB-dependent transcriptome demonstrates the tumor suppressor long non-coding RNA maternally expressed 3 (MEG3) as a hitherto unde­ scribed link between CYGB and NRF2. Thus, the presence of CYGB, at least in melanoma cells, seems to play a central role in determining the therapeutic outcome of RONS-inducing anticancer therapies, like NTP-treated solutions, possessing both tumor-suppressive and oncogenic features. Hence, CYGB expression could be of in­ terest either as a biomarker or as a candidate for future targeted therapies in melanoma.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000844595100002 Publication Date 0000-00-00  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2213-2317 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 11.4 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This work was funded in part by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Government. The FWO fellowships and grants that funded this work include: 12S9221 N (Abraham Lin) and G044420 N (Abraham Lin and Annemie Bogaerts). Joey De Backer acknowledges a visiting fellowship from the University of Fribourg. David Hoogewijs acknowledges support by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 31003A173000 and 310030207460). Approved Most recent IF: 11.4  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:190635 Serial 7101  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Oliveira, M.C.; Verswyvel, H.; Smits, E.; Cordeiro, R.M.; Bogaerts, A.; Lin, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title The pro- and anti-tumoral properties of gap junctions in cancer and their role in therapeutic strategies Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Redox Biology Abbreviated Journal (up) Redox Biol  
  Volume 57 Issue Pages 102503  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Center for Oncological Research (CORE)  
  Abstract Gap junctions (GJs), essential structures for cell-cell communication, are made of two hemichannels (commonly called connexons), one on each adjacent cell. Found in almost all cells, GJs play a pivotal role in many physi­ological and cellular processes, and have even been linked to the progression of diseases, such as cancer. Modulation of GJs is under investigation as a therapeutic strategy to kill tumor cells. Furthermore, GJs have also been studied for their key role in activating anti-cancer immunity and propagating radiation- and oxidative stress-induced cell death to neighboring cells, a process known as the bystander effect. While, gap junction (GJ)based therapeutic strategies are being developed, one major challenge has been the paradoxical role of GJs in both tumor progression and suppression, based on GJ composition, cancer factors, and tumoral context. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of action, regulation, and the dual characteristics of GJs in cancer is critical for developing effective therapeutics. In this review, we provide an overview of the current under­ standing of GJs structure, function, and paradoxical pro- and anti-tumoral role in cancer. We also discuss the treatment strategies to target these GJs properties for anti-cancer responses, via modulation of GJ function.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000871090800004 Publication Date 0000-00-00  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2213-2317 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record  
  Impact Factor 11.4 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes We thank Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (CAPES, Brazil) for the scholarship granted, and the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the University of Antwerp, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Founda­tion, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp, for providing the computational resources needed for running the simulations. This work was also funded in part by the funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Government. The FWO fellowships and grants that funded this work include: 12S9221N (Abraham Lin), G044420N (Abraham Lin and Annemie Bogaerts), and 1S67621N (Hanne Verswyvel). Figs. 1, 4 and 5 were created in BioRender.com. Approved Most recent IF: 11.4  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:191362 Serial 7112  
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