Sounds like "air ionizers":<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_ioniser#Ions_versus_ozone" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_ioniser#Ions_versus_ozone</a><p>see also "Ions versus ozone" (part of the same article):<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_ioniser#Ions_versus_ozone" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_ioniser#Ions_versus_ozone</a><p>I'm fairly certain any plasma is harder to create than ionized air and the plasma could be maintained only in a relatively small confined space, whereas ions can be freely distributed into a room.<p>Air ionizers are one option used for cleaning up black mold, fungus, etc. when a building suffers water damage. They're sometimes used to "mop up" after the usual methods of cleaning (washing with anti-fungals, antiseptics, etc.) have been exhausted.<p>Turn on the ionizer, keep the air circulating, and periodically measure cooties (fungus, bacteria, germs, viruses, etc.) until levels are below tolerance. You leave the premises if using an ozone generator but some models claim to limit ionization to the unit itself, in which case you should be able to live on the premises.
Any released ionized particles travel to the remotest parts of the air circulation system for mop-up.<p>Its old tech that has existed almost since the first spark coil.
<i>“In those void spaces, you’re initiating sparks,” Clack said. “By passing through the packed bed, pathogens in the air stream are oxidized by unstable atoms called radicals. What’s left is a virus that has diminished ability to infect cells.”</i><p>That sounds just like ozone sterilisation, something that's been around for a very long time. What's new about this variation?<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dielectric_barrier_discharge" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dielectric_barrier_discharge</a>
In order for those "soft kill" technologies to work, you need to get all the "big" particles out of the fluid. Similarly to how potable water needs to be filtered and flocculated before chlorination becomes effective. So while this is an alternative to UV or higher-order filtration, it's not replacing filters.
My professor in college was studying this. The big deal was that you could use cold plasma to deactivate bio-films which are resistant to even autoclaving. I guess biofilms are a problem when you are trying to clean hospitals, surgical tools, etc...<p>The only issue was that she needed helium to ignite the cold plasma in the RF generator. Helium is stupid expensive for this sort of thing.