Plasma-Chemical Destruction of Chloramphenicol in Aqueous Solutions Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge

This article presents the results of studies into the kinetics of the decomposition of chloramphenicol (CAP) in aqueous solution under the influence of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in oxygen. The range of concentrations studied was 9–45 mg/L. The gas flow rate was 3 cm3/s, and the specific discharge power was 0.3 W/cm3. It was found that the kinetics of CAP decomposition obeyed the law of the 1st kinetic order. The formal rate constant was dependent on the initial concentration and decreased with an increase from 0.3 to 0.16 s−1. Here, the energy yield of decomposition varied from 1.8×10−3 to 5.5×10−3 molecules per 100 eV of input energy. The degree of decomposition increased with increasing time of solution residence in the discharge and decreased with increasing initial concentration. The maximum degree of decomposition of CAP reached 90%. Destruction products in the solution included carboxylic acids, aldehydes, nitrite and nitrate ions, ammonium ions, and CO2 molecules, appearing in the gas phase.