Characteristics and applications of plasma assisted chemical processes and reactors

Plasma assisted chemical processes and reactors have drawn more and more attention in academic research and industrial applications. On one hand, plasmas change the fluid properties at atomic/molecular scale. On the other hand, the mutual contact between plasmas and the substances are alternated at meso-scale, bringing up unique features of transport phenomena and reactions in such chemical reactors. This short review aims to introduce some fundamental and practical aspects of thermal and non-thermal plasmas with their broad applications in chemical reaction engineering.