A comprehensive insight on plasma-catalytic degradation of organic pollutants in water: Comparison between ZnO and TiO2

Abstract

A novel system combining underwater plasma bubbles and high voltage nanopulses was combined for the first time with ZnO and TiO2 for the degradation of organic pollutants in water. The effect of catalyst loading, discharge power and plasma gas on pollutant degradation was investigated whereas the plasma-catalytic mechanism was explored through the quantification of plasma species, COD/TOC measurements and scavenging experiments in the presence and absence of catalysts. The increased efficiency in the presence of either ZnO or TiO2, especially under plasma gases (air and oxygen) able to produce UV radiation in the range of wavelengths absorbed by both catalysts, lies on the increased concentration of the critical reactive species (e.g. ·O2−, ·ΟΗ, H2O2). Compared to plasma alone process, H2O2 was significantly enhanced in the presence of TiO2 and decreased in the presence of ZnO, whereas ·OH concentration was higher in the plasma-ZnO but lower in the plasma-TiO2 system which supports the overall superior performance of ZnO compared to TiO2. The synergy of plasma-ZnO process compared to that of plasma-TiO2 was ∼2.4 and ∼1.5 times higher for Orange II (OII) and Methylene Blue (MB), respectively, exhibiting a very low electrical energy per order (1.4 kWh m−3 for OII and 0.31 kWh m−3 or MB). The present effort contributes on providing fundamental insights and further expand of plasma-catalysis for water treatment.