Sterilization of organic sheet by plasma-based ion implantation

Abstract

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are widely used as beverage containers due to the easy handling as well as the low cost. They have taken the place of glass bottles in most market. However, PET has something inferior to glass for industrial application. The bottles in a traditional bottling system are sprayed with hydrogen peroxide water or dipped in a basin filled with the toxic water for sterilization prior to being filled with beverages. Then they are rinsed with pure water and dried with hot air. PET bottles take much more time to fulfil this rinsing process than glass ones, since organic material like PET tends to absorb some of liquid or gas molecules into its bulk structure1. In order to reduce the amount of toxic hydrogen peroxide in the sterilization process Jacobs and Lin developed a plasma sterilization2 using hydrogen peroxide vapour, in which the chemical reactivity of the toxic molecules is enhanced by particle collision in plasma. However, their method has not sufficiently resolved the problem of residual toxic molecules in organic material, yet.