Investigating the Effects of Gliding Arc Plasma Discharge’s Thermal Characteristic and Reactive Chemistry on Aqueous PFOS Mineralization

Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are recalcitrant organofluorine contaminants, which demand urgent attention due to their bioaccumulation potential and associated health risks. While numerous current treatments technologies, including certain plasma-based treatments, can degrade PFASs, their complete destruction or mineralization is seldom achieved. Extensive aqueous PFAS mineralization capability coupled with industrial-level scaling potential makes gliding arc plasma (GAP) discharges an interesting and promising technology in PFAS mitigation. In this study, the effects of GAP discharge’s thermal and reactive properties on aqueous perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) mineralization were investigated. Treatments were conducted with air and nitrogen GAP discharges at different plasma gas temperatures to investigate the effects of plasma thermal environment on PFOS mineralization; the results show that treatments with increased plasma gas temperatures lead to increased PFOS mineralization, and discharges in air were able to mineralize PFOS at relatively lower plasma gas temperatures compared to discharges in nitrogen. Studies were conducted to identify if GAP-based PFOS mineralization is a pure thermal process or if plasma reactive chemistry also affects PFOS mineralization. This was done by comparing the effects of thermal environments with and without plasma species (air discharge and air heated to plasma gas temperatures) on PFOS mineralization; the results show that while GAP discharge was able to mineralize PFOS, equivalent temperature air without plasma did not lead to PFOS mineralization. Finally, mineralization during treatments with GAP discharges in argon and air at similar gas temperatures were compared to investigate the role of plasma species in PFOS mineralization. The results demonstrate that treatments with argon (monoatomic gas with higher ionization) lead to increased PFOS mineralization compared to treatments with air (molecular gas with lower ionization), showing the participation of reactive species in PFOS mineralization.