Degradation of Aqueous Safranine T Solution by DC Glow Discharge Plasma at Atmospheric Pressure Air

Abstract

The degradation of aqueous safranine T (ST) solution using direct current (DC) glow discharge plasma (GDP) at atmospheric pressure air was investigated. Several factors including pH, the gas gap between the anode tip and the solution surface, the anode needle sealed into the glass, which might impact the ST degradation process, were examined, respectively. Both the degradation rate of ST and the energy utilization efficiency were used as characteristic quantities to evaluate the degradation effect in our work. The results suggest that the highest degradation rate is 94.26% after 16 min treatment and the highest average energy utilization efficiency reaches 5.28 g/kWh in the 12 min treatment, the most suitable gas gap height and pH are 5 mm and 4.60, respectively. Meanwhile, the needle sealed with the glass facilitates the ST degradation process.