Degradation of sulfuryl fluoride by dielectric barrier discharge synergistically with reactive gas

SO2F2 is widely used as a fumigant pesticide owing to its strong diffusion permeability, low residue, and high insecticidal speed. However, the strong greenhouse effect limits its application, and harmless treatment is also one of the problems. Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is an effective way to deal with harmful gas, and the treatment efficiency can be significantly improved by adding active gases such as H2O, H-2, etc. In this paper, the effect of H2O and H-2 on SO2F2 degradation by DBD is investigated. It shows the synergistic effect of reactive gas and DBD plasma on SO2F2 degradation that reactive particles generated from the discharge participate in the degradation of SO2F2 and hinder its recovery. When the input power is 80 W, the 2% SO2F2/1% H2O/97% Ar system achieves a degradation removal efficiency (DRE) of 86.26% and an energy yield (EY) of 13.55 g/kWh, while the 2% SO2F2/1% H-2/97% Ar system shows a DRE and an EY of 80.29% and 12.61 g/kWh, respectively. However, in the 2% SO2F2/Ar system, the DRE and the EY are only 64.13% and 10.11 g/kWh, respectively. Moreover, the decomposition path of SO2F2 is analyzed, and it is found that SO2 and SOF2 are the main products in both H2O and H-2 systems while the H-2 addition generates solid S via the reduction of SO2F2. The results show that the addition of reactive gas can effectively promote the degradation and regulatory product of SO2F2, which provides support for the efficient and harmless degradation of SO2F2 in industry. (c) 2024 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).