Plasma processes, based on low temperature thermal and non-thermal plasmas, are continuing to “invade” our scientific and technological world. In many areas of everyday life, plasmas processes have emerged as pivotal technologies that often present the best solution to any given problem. Beside well established applications (e.g., light sources, plasma displays, ozone generators, gas lasers, microelectronics fabrication), plasma systems or plasma-produced and -treated materials find increasing use in transportation and space travel, energy technology, coating, packaging, gas treatment and synthesis, fabric treatment.

The conference, including invited speakers and contributed poster, will feature the latest developments in plasma processing science and applications of science and industry related to both thermal and non-thermal plasmas. New areas have already emerged with “dusty plasmas” now being used to create materials and build devices for nanotechnology, and plasma-controlled aerodynamics with the development of atmospheric discharges. Hydrogen production, biomass conversion, fuel cell technology are among the domains where plasmas technologies are improving every day. Use of plasmas in biology and medicine is set to “explode” in the coming years and will be exploited in surgery, skin or disease treatments as well as for decontamination and sterilization. The production and applications of plasmas in liquids is probably one of the most exciting emerging areas of plasma technology in the coming years.

While new applications of plasmas arise almost every year, the scientific foundations often are far from clear. Invited talks around these hot topics are intended to incite discussions around the detailed plasma mechanisms and interactions with the surrounding media, which are vital for optimisation of plasma reactors and plasma processes and for the success of plasma technology in new application areas. Since low-temperature plasma science and engineering is a highly interdisciplinary field, particular attention will be placed on having researchers from academic institutions and industry covering a broad scope of applications.