Intensity comparison between UV lamps and plasma emission for air purification studies

We compared spectra and intensity light of different sources, such as a UV-A lamp, a UV-C lamp, and a visible bulb, and atmospheric nonthermal plasma emission. Spectroscopic measurements were performed with an optical emission spectrometer and radiometric measurements with a radiometer to which UV-A, UV-C, and visible probes were coupled to measure the light intensity per unit surface. For each light source, we measured the emission spectrum and light intensity using different probes and also varying the relative distance. The nonthermal atmospheric plasma was generated by means of a surface barrier dielectric discharge varying the relevant parameters. This work allowed us to create the experimental setup suitable for further studies on volatile organic compound abatement by plasma-catalysis processing and compared it to the photocatalysis techniques based on UV and visible lamps.