The evaluation of biomolecular etching by non-thermal plasmas is of great significance for surface decontamination but remains a big challenge. In this work, the atmospheric pressure plasma jets etching profiles of over 40 kinds of biological materials were systematically probed by in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The infrared spectra were recorded in real time during the plasma exposure processes with the sensitivity of ∼μg. Etching rather than chemical modifications dominated the spectral variations. Results showed that short-carbon-chain or hydroxyl-containing amino acids had much higher etching rates (ERs). Almost all tested proteins shared close ERs, which were higher than those of nucleic acids, peptidoglycan, phospholipid, and serum. Difficultly etched component significantly hindered the overall etching of mixtures. This investigation provides new hints for bacterial or organic contamination removal by plasmas.

非热等离子体对生物分子蚀刻的评估对于表面去污具有重要意义，但仍然是一个很大的挑战。在这项工作中，通过原位傅里叶变换红外光谱系统地探测了40多种生物材料的大气压等离子体射流蚀刻轮廓。在等离子体曝光过程中实时记录红外光谱，灵敏度为~ μG。蚀刻而不是化学修饰主导了光谱变化。结果表明，短碳链或含羟基的氨基酸具有更高的蚀刻率 (ER)。几乎所有测试的蛋白质都具有相近的 ER，高于核酸、肽聚糖、磷脂和血清。难以蚀刻的成分显着阻碍了混合物的整体蚀刻。这项研究为等离子体去除细菌或有机污染物提供了新的线索。