Evaluation of degradation efficacy and toxicity mitigation for 4-nitrophenol using argon and air-mixed argon plasma jets

This paper investigates the effects of argon (Ar) and that of Ar mixed with ambient air (Ar–Air) cold plasma jets (CPJs) on 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) degradation using low input power. The introduction of ambient air into the Ar-Air plasma jet enhances ionization-driven processes during high-voltage discharge by utilizing nitrogen and oxygen molecules from ambient air, resulting in increased reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) production, which synergistically interacts with argon. This substantial generation of RONS establishes Ar–Air plasma jet as an effective method for treating 4-NP contamination in deionized water (DW). Notably, the Ar-Air plasma jet treatment outperforms that of the Ar jet. It achieves a higher degradation rate of 97.2% and a maximum energy efficiency of 57.3 gkW−1h−1, following a 6-min (min) treatment with 100 mgL−1 4-NP in DW. In contrast, Ar jet treatment yielded a lower degradation rate and an energy efficiency of 75.6% and 47.8 gkW−1h−1, respectively, under identical conditions. Furthermore, the first-order rate coefficient for 4-NP degradation was measured at 0.23 min−1 for the Ar plasma jet and significantly higher at 0.56 min−1 for the Ar–Air plasma jet. Reactive oxygen species, such as hydroxyl radical and ozone, along with energy from excited species and plasma-generated electron transfers, are responsible for CPJ-assisted 4-NP breakdown. In summary, this study examines RONS production from Ar and Ar–Air plasma jets, evaluates their 4-NP removal efficacy, and investigates the biocompatibility of 4-NP that has been degraded after plasma treatment. © 2024