Volatile organic compounds decomposition using nonthermal plasma coupled with a combination of catalysts

A series of experiments were performed for toluene decomposition from a gaseous influent at normal temperature and atmospheric pressure by nonthermal plasma coupled with a combination of catalysts technology. Nonthermal plasma was generated by dielectric barrier discharge. gamma -Al[2]O[3]3 was used to be a sorbent and a catalyst carrier. Nanocatalysts were MnO[2]/ gamma-Al[2]O[3] coupled with modified ferroelectric of nano-Ba[0.8]Sr[0.2]Zr[0.1]Ti[0.9]O[3]. gamma-Al[2]O[3] played an important role in prolonging reaction time of nonthermal plasma with volatile organic compounds molecules. MnO[2]/ gamma-Al[2]O[3] has an advantage for ozone removal, while nano-Ba[0.8]Sr[0.2]Zr[0.1]Ti[0.9]O[3] is a kind of good ferroelectric material for improving energy efficiency. Thus these packed materials were incorporated together to strengthen nonthermal plasma power for volatile organic compounds decomposition. The results showed the synergistic technology resulted in greater enhancement of toluene removal and energy efficiencies and a better inhibition for ozone formation in the gas exhaust. Based on the data analysis of the Fourier transforms infrared spectrum, the reaction process of toluene decomposition and the mechanism of synergistic effect are discussed. The results showed in a complex oxidation mechanism of toluene via several pathways, producing either ringretaining or ringopening products. The final products were carbon dioxide and water

Removal of bisphenol A from aqueous solution by hydrophobic sorption of hemimicelles

In this work, the hydrophobic sorption of hemimicelles was proposed as an innovative method for removing bisphenol A from aqueous solution with esterified carboxyl cotton as sorbent and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide as cationic surfactant. In order to optimize the sorption process, the effect of sorbent dose, initial pH, surfactant dose, sorbate concentration, contact time and temperature was investigated in batch system. The maximum value of bisphenol A removal appeared in the pH range 4-10. The bisphenol A removal ratio came up to the maximum value beyond 12 time of surfactant/bisphenol A. The isothermal data of bisphenol A sorption conformed well to the Langmuir model and the maximum sorption capacity [Qm] of esterified carboxyl cotton for bisphenol A was 87.72 mg/g. The bisphenol A removal equilibrium was reached within about 4 h and the removal process could be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The thermodynamic study indicated that the bisphenol A sorption process was spontaneous and exothermic