Mineralization of Phenol in Water by Catalytic Non-Thermal Plasma Reactor - An Eco-Friendly Approach for Wastewater Treatment

Degradation of phenol in water was examined in a non‐thermal plasma reactor combined with CeO2, Fe2O3/CeO2, and ZrO2/CeO2 catalysts. Plasma reactor was operated in a dielectric barrier discharge configuration, whereas, catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, and Raman spectroscopy. The effect of applied voltage, phenol concentration and catalyst addition was studied. Typical results indicated that the degradation efficiency increases with increasing voltage, whereas, the best energy yield was obtained at lower applied voltage. Total organic carbon analyzer confirmed the mineralization of phenol, which was further enhanced by the catalyst addition up to 47.3%. The intermediate compounds formed during the plasma decomposition were identified by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Feasibility of non‐thermal plasma dielectric barrier discharge reactor for the mineralization of aqueous organic pollutant phenol was tested. Coupling the plasma reactor with ceria catalysts improved both the degradation and mineralization. It has been demonstrated catalyst facilitates the formation of short‐lived species or/and secondary oxidants like atomic oxygen by in situ decomposition of ozone.