Ozone-free post-DBD aerosol bipolar diffusion charger: Evaluation as neutralizer for SMPS size distribution measurements

International audienceA post-plasma neutralizer for submicron particles size measurements by mobility analysis has been evaluated. Bipolar ion currents have been measured downstream a Dielectric Barrier Discharge to estimate the ion fluxes at the inlet of charging volume and the n i •τ product that define the theoretical maximal concentration that can be neutralized. Charge distributions were measured versus DBD voltage, aerosol diameter and concentration for monodisperse aerosols. It is confirmed that the charge distribution of particles depends on the ratio of initial positive and negative ion currents controlled by the DBD voltage leading to a tuneable mean charge of aerosol in this post-DBD bipolar charger. As expected from Gunn's law, the mean charge and the variance are proportional to particle diameter above 50 nm and independent of the aerosol concentration. The size distributions measured with 85Kr and post-DBD neutralizer present the same modal diameters and a maximal overestimation of the total concentration of 10 %, for aerosol from 15 to 730 nm with concentrations up to 6.1E12 m-3. This post-DBD bipolar charger can be used for submicron aerosol neutralization and thus for SMPS size distribution measurements in air as well as in nitrogen to suppress ozone downstream DBD