Interaction of Plasma Jet With Methanol as Fundamental Processes in Solution

Plasma depollution is a relatively new field that investigates potential applications of atmospheric pressure plasma in environmental engineering, such as microorganism inactivation and degradation of organic molecules in water. In order to enunciate mechanisms of degradation of organic matter at molecular or atomic levels, the interaction between He, N
₂
, O
₂
, and air plasma jet and methanol in water was analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrum and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Results show that the efficiency of methanol degradation is strongly dependent on the working gas and plasma treatment time. Compared to atmospheric pressure N
₂
, O
₂
, and air plasma jet, the He plasma jet may be utilized to degrade methanol more efficiently in aqueous solution. The efficiencies of degradation of methanol in water can be well described by using the chemical reaction rate model, where reactive oxygen and hydroxyl radical species play crucial roles in the degradation process. This paper provides an insight into the mechanism of degradation of organic pollutant in water by plasma.