A critical review on application of emerging hybrid cavitation–plasma technology for remediation of wastewater effluents

New generation pollutants, containing stable chemical compounds and complex structures, have led to significant water pollution and environmental concerns. For the treatment of such harmful and toxic pollutants, plasma and cavitation–based methods are cost–effective and promising technologies due to their high–energy efficiency, reducing the treatment time, low operating costs, and scalability. The integration of plasma and cavitation technologies, as a hybrid system, leads to increased production of in-situ reactive species, synergistic effects, and intensifies the wastewater remediation processes. Considering that there is no review about the hybrid cavitation–plasma technology for the treatment of effluents, so in this review, the bases of individual processes (hydrodynamic cavitation, acoustic cavitation, plasma) are first discussed, focusing on the basic principles behind them, which highlights the advantages of combining cavitation with plasma. Then, to demonstrate the effectiveness and positive synergy, emerging researches conducted on employing hybrid cavitation-plasma technology for the degradation of persistent pollutants and inactivation of microorganisms are presented in comparison with individual processes. Besides, the efficacy of the influencing parameters on the degradation rate and the optimal values of different parameters for wastewater treatment are mentioned. Finally, according to the findings of this review, the problems in this field are raised and several ways to develop this hot–spot technology, as a next generation technology for wastewater detoxification, are presented. Ultimately, effective wastewater treatment with a high degree of energy efficiency can be achieved by an integrated cavitation–plasma technology operating under optimal conditions, compared to the individual technologies. [Display omitted] •Hybrid plasma–cavitation technology is a promising strategy for environmental remediation.•Removal of pollutants by this hybrid technology takes place in very short time without adding any chemical compounds.•The synergistic effects in the hydride technology leads to increased production of reactive species.•This technology decreases operational and exploitation costs and increase energy efficiency.