Simultaneous hydrodynamic cavitation and nanosecond pulse discharge plasma enhanced by oxygen injection.

A novel Hydrodynamic Cavitation-Assisted Oxygen Plasma (HCAOP) process, which employs a venturi tube and oxygen injection, has been developed for enhancing the production and utilization of hydroxyl radicals (·OH) in the degradation of organic pollutants. This study has systematically investigated the fluid characteristics and discharge properties of the gas-liquid two-phase body in the venturi tube. The hydraulic cavitation two-phase body discharge is initiated by the bridging of the cavitation cloud between the electrodes. The discharge mode transitions from diffuse to spark to corona as the oxygen flow rate increases. The spark discharge has the highest current and discharge energy. Excessive oxygen results in the change of the flow from bubbly to annular and a subsequent decrease in discharge energy. The effects of cavitation intensity, oxygen flow rate, and power polarity on discharge characteristics and ·OH production were evaluated using terephthalic acid as a fluorescent probe. It was found that injecting 3 standard liter per minute (SLPM) of oxygen increased the ·OH yield by 6 times with only 1.2 times increase in power, whereas<0.5 SLPM of oxygen did not improve the ·OH yield due to lower breakdown voltage. Negative polarity voltage increased the breakdown voltage and ·OH yield due to asymmetric density and pressure distribution in the throat tube. This polarity effect was explained by numerical simulation. Using indigo carmine (E132) as a model pollutant, the HCAOP process degraded 20 mg/L of dye in 5 L water within 2 min following a first-order reaction. The lowest electric energy per order (EEO) was 0.26 (kWh/m3/order). The HCAOP process is a highly efficient flow-type advanced oxidation process with potential industrial applications.

Research progress of medical nitric oxide production technology / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Nitric oxide is a messenger molecule in the body, which is widely distributed in various tissues of living organisms and participates in regulating the physiological activities of cells. Inhalation of low concentrations of NO can selectively relax the pulmonary blood vessels, which can achieve good results and has been applied in clinical respiratory emergency treatment such as pulmonary hypertension, neonatal hypoxic respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), etc. At present, in addition to the clinical use of chemical methods to produce NO gas (storage in cylinders), NO can also be generated by discharge. Among them, the pulsed arc discharge can realize the preparation of NO at any time and solve the problems of decompression and storage of conventional NO gas supply. In this paper, the clinical application of NO, discharge technology, and removal methods of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were reviewed.

Research progress of medical nitric oxide production technology / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Nitric oxide is a messenger molecule in the body, which is widely distributed in various tissues of living organisms and participates in regulating the physiological activities of cells. Inhalation of low concentrations of NO can selectively relax the pulmonary blood vessels, which can achieve good results and has been applied in clinical respiratory emergency treatment such as pulmonary hypertension, neonatal hypoxic respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), etc. At present, in addition to the clinical use of chemical methods to produce NO gas (storage in cylinders), NO can also be generated by discharge. Among them, the pulsed arc discharge can realize the preparation of NO at any time and solve the problems of decompression and storage of conventional NO gas supply. In this paper, the clinical application of NO, discharge technology, and removal methods of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were reviewed.

Stabilizer-free silver nanoparticles as efficient catalysts for electrochemical reduction of oxygen.

In this work we demonstrated the potential of the He+5% H2+1% N2 plasma jet treatment for the synthesis of surfactant-free silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) with narrow size distribution. The obtained colloidal solutions of electrostatically stabilized Ag NPs do not show any agglomeration for several months. Apart from an atomic thin oxide layer and the relatively weakly bound OH- ions, the surface of Ag NPs can be considered as stabilizer-free. The surface charge (characterized by the zeta potential) of Ag NPs in solution was measured by electrophoretic light scattering technique. Plasmonic band position and width in the UV/VIS extinction spectra was utilized for the assessment of Ag NPs size distribution. Highly concentrated Ag NPs were uniformly deposited on the surface of the glassy carbon (GC) electrodes by vacuum-drying technique. The deposition process was monitored with a digital camera attached to a microscope. The assemblies of Ag NPs on the electrode surface were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The Ag NP/GC catalysts were electrochemically tested in alkaline solution using the rotating disk electrode method. The Ag NP/GC electrodes exhibited high electrocatalytic activity toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in 0.1M KOH solution, indicating their potential applicability as cathode materials for alkaline fuel cells.

Evaluation of the potential of p-nitrophenol degradation in dredged sediment by pulsed discharge plasma.

Hazardous pollutants in dredged sediment pose great threats to ecological environment and human health. A novel approach, named pulsed discharge plasma (PDP), was employed for the degradation of p-nitrophenol (PNP) in dredged sediment. Experimental results showed that 92.9% of PNP in sediment was smoothly removed in 60 min, and the degradation process fitted the first-order kinetic model. Roles of some active species in PNP degradation in sediment were studied by various gas plasmas, OH radical scavenger, hydrated electron scavenger and O2(·-) scavenger; and the results presented that O3, OH radical, eaq(-) and O2(·-) all played significant roles in PNP removal, and eaq(-) and O2(·-) mainly participated in other oxidising active species formation. FTIR analysis showed that PNP molecular structure was destroyed after PDP treatment. The main degradation intermediates were identified as hydroquinone, benzoquinone, phenol, acetic acid, NO2(-) and NO3(-). PNP degradation pathway in dredged sediment was proposed. It is expected to contribute to an alternative for sediment remediation by pulse discharge plasma.

Kinetic mechanism of molecular energy transfer and chemical reactions in low-temperature air-fuel plasmas.

This work describes the kinetic mechanism of coupled molecular energy transfer and chemical reactions in low-temperature air, H2-air and hydrocarbon-air plasmas sustained by nanosecond pulse discharges (single-pulse or repetitive pulse burst). The model incorporates electron impact processes, state-specific N(2) vibrational energy transfer, reactions of excited electronic species of N(2), O(2), N and O, and 'conventional' chemical reactions (Konnov mechanism). Effects of diffusion and conduction heat transfer, energy coupled to the cathode layer and gasdynamic compression/expansion are incorporated as quasi-zero-dimensional corrections. The model is exercised using a combination of freeware (Bolsig+) and commercial software (ChemKin-Pro). The model predictions are validated using time-resolved measurements of temperature and N(2) vibrational level populations in nanosecond pulse discharges in air in plane-to-plane and sphere-to-sphere geometry; temperature and OH number density after nanosecond pulse burst discharges in lean H(2)-air, CH(4)-air and C(2)H(4)-air mixtures; and temperature after the nanosecond pulse discharge burst during plasma-assisted ignition of lean H2-mixtures, showing good agreement with the data. The model predictions for OH number density in lean C(3)H(8)-air mixtures differ from the experimental results, over-predicting its absolute value and failing to predict transient OH rise and decay after the discharge burst. The agreement with the data for C(3)H(8)-air is improved considerably if a different conventional hydrocarbon chemistry reaction set (LLNL methane-n-butane flame mechanism) is used. The results of mechanism validation demonstrate its applicability for analysis of plasma chemical oxidation and ignition of low-temperature H(2)-air, CH(4)-air and C(2)H(4)-air mixtures using nanosecond pulse discharges. Kinetic modelling of low-temperature plasma excited propane-air mixtures demonstrates the need for development of a more accurate 'conventional' chemistry mechanism.

Noncrystalline structure of Ni-P nanoparticles prepared by liquid pulse discharge.

Noncrystalline nickel phosphide (Ni-P) nanoparticles have drawn great attention due to their high potential as catalysts. However, the structure of noncrystalline Ni-P nanoparticles is still unknown, which may shed light on explaining the catalysis mechanism of the Ni-P nanoparticles. In this paper, noncrystalline Ni-P nanoparticles were synthesized. Their morphology, particle size, element contents, local atomic structures, as well as the catalysis in the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate were studied. The results demonstrate that the as-prepared Ni-P nanoparticles are spherical with an average diameter of about 13.5 nm. The Ni and P contents are, respectively, 78.15% and 21.85%. The noncrystalline nature of the as-prepared Ni-P nanoparticles can be attributed to cross-linkage between P-doping f.c.c.-like Ni centers and Ni3P-like P centers. The locally ordered Ni centers and P centers are the nuclei sites, which can explain well the origin of initial nuclei to form the crystalline phases after high-temperature annealing. The starting temperature of high-temperature decomposition of ammonium perchlorate was found having a significant decrease in the presence of the noncrystalline Ni-P nanoparticles. Therefore, the as-prepared noncrystalline Ni-P nanoparticles can be used as a potential catalyst in the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate.