Low-cost plasma woven mesh cover for chemical-free produce shelf-life extension

Overview

This solution is a low-cost, flexible woven plasma mesh cover designed to disinfect fresh produce and extend its shelf life without the use of chemical sanitizers. Developed at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, the Weave converts ambient air into a reactive mix of small nitrogen and oxygen molecules, radicals, and molecular ions that reduce microbial spoilage. The technology addresses growing demand for chemical-free food preservation methods while reducing waste in the produce supply chain.

The system is intended to be deployed as a mesh cover sized to fit standard produce transport crates. A battery-based portable power source drives the plasma generation, and the researchers are developing a rolling power scheme to enable efficient operation at larger scales. Because the process uses only ambient air and electricity, it avoids the residue, regulatory burden, and environmental concerns associated with conventional chemical disinfectants.

Technical specifications

Core technology:

• Flexible woven plasma source that operates in ambient air and generates reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen species (RONS)
• Absorption spectroscopy measurements show reactive oxygen species concentrations of approximately 0.5% and reactive nitrogen species concentrations of approximately 0.05%
• Battery-based portable power source enables field deployment without fixed infrastructure

Demonstrated performance:

• Up to 6 log10 CFU reduction of E. coli on contaminated surfaces (published results)
• Greater than 2 log10 PFU inactivation of human viruses, including HSV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 on glass surfaces, both dry and wet
• Validated on glass, metal, and textile substrates
• Approximately 2 minutes of treatment achieves greater than 99.9% bacterial decontamination and up to 99% viral inactivation

Scaling status:

• Prototypes have been scaled from petri-dish size to pocket-book size without performance loss
• Scale-up to standard produce transport crate dimensions is the next engineering target
• A rolling power scheme is being designed to efficiently drive the larger mesh

Technology readiness level

The Weave is at a mid-stage development level. Laboratory-scale devices have been validated for bacterial and viral disinfection on multiple surface types, with results statistically supported by three repeated samples per group and ANOVA analysis (p less than 0.05). Published E. coli decontamination data and unpublished viral inactivation data form the current evidence base, alongside proof-of-concept work using plasma-activated water mist. The next milestones are scaling the mesh to crate size and engineering an efficient rolling power delivery scheme before pilot deployment in real produce handling environments.