Efficient degradation of bisphenol A by a novel ternary synergistic dielectric barrier discharge plasma advanced oxidation process: The role of peracetic acid and ferrous ions

Bisphenol A (BPA) was an emerging contaminant with endocrine-disrupting effects, and its existence in water environment could cause serious harm to human health and ecological environment. Herein, this work constructed a ternary synergistic advanced oxidation process system, namely dielectric barrier discharge (DBD)/peracetic acid (PAA)/ferrous ions (Fe2+), for degradation of BPA in water. The ternary synergistic system has significantly improved the degradation of BPA compared with the single system. Results showed that this ternary synergistic system could efficiently degrade 97.3 % of 40 mg/L BPA within 15 min. The interaction between the DBD, PAA and Fe2+ significantly increased the production of reactive species (<middle dot>OH, O-1(2), <middle dot>O-2(-)). The concentration of PAA and Fe2+, as well as the discharge power, affected the degradation efficiency. Low pH was more favorable to the degradation of BPA. The presence of reactive species was verified through electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and their critical role in the degradation process were validated by reactive species scavenging experiments. Density functional theory (DFT) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer (LC-MS) were employed to investigate the degradation pathways of BPA. The toxicity analysis revealed that each product exhibited reduced toxicity compared to BPA. This study provided an efficient and environmentally friendly method for BPA treatment with significant practical application potential.