Abstract
Increasing concern with regard to food safety in the presence of pesticide residues (PRs) on the surface of agricultural products has resulted in the rapid development of practical degrading technologies for corresponding PRs. In this paper, an unconventional method of degrading pesticides, non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP), was proposed to degrade the avermectin (AVM) in aqueous solution. Optical emission spectroscopy shows that NTAP, consisting of filamentary streamers, contains a variety of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that may interact with AVM. The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-MS/MS results indicate that the efficiency of AVM degradation seriously depends on multiple operation parameters of the NTAP, including the applied voltage, treatment time and gas flow rate. The maximum degradation rate of AVM was observed to be 97.47% after 240 s exposure under NTAP with an applied voltage of 18 kV and gas flow rate of 1 l min−1. Molecular dynamics simulation based on a reactive force field for the interaction between O (ground state atomic oxygen) and AVM was performed to analyze the underpinning mechanisms. The simulation result shows the possible pathways of the NTAP-generated O degrading AVM by destroying the glycosyl group or fracturing the ester group.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
