Influence of electrode on discharge property in dielectric barrier discharge of atmospheric pressure helium

A new type of multipole columnar plasma reactor was proposed to reduce the capacitive current of dielectric barrier discharge. The discharge current and Lissajous diagram of multi-electrode columnar plasma reactor under different applied voltages were measured. The peak discharge current of the newly designed plasma reactor is reduced by 32.18%, from 1.274 A of the traditional device to 0.892 A. In addition, it is found that the micro-discharge is almost three times that of the conventional apparatus, indicating that more discharge channels are generated (from 46 to 113). With the increase of applied voltage, the equivalent capacitance and transferred charge of the multi-electrode plasma reactor increase approximately linearly with the rise in the number of discharge stages, which is mainly related to the distribution and region of the discharge plasma. In addition, the discharge characteristics of different electrode materials at the same applied voltage are compared, and it is found that the metallic activity of the electrode material causes microscopic changes in the discharge characteristics at high and low voltages. The results show that the performance of discharge plasma can be improved by optimizing electrode structure and materials.