title: Potential of pulsed corona discharges generated in water for the degradation of persistent pharmaceutical residues.
abstract: Anthropogenic pollutants and in particular pharmaceutical residues are a potential risk for potable water where they are found in increasing concentrations. Different environmental effects could already be linked to the presence of pharmaceuticals in surface waters even for low concentrations. Many pharmaceuticals withstand conventional water treatment technologies. Consequently, there is a need for new water purification techniques. Advanced oxidation processes (AOP), and especially plasmas with their ability to create reactive species directly in water, may offer a promising solution. We developed a plasma reactor with a coaxial geometry to generate large volume corona discharges directly in water and investigated the degradation of seven recalcitrant pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, diatrizoate, diazepam, diclofenac, ibuprofen, 17α-ethinylestradiol, trimethoprim). For most substances we observed decomposition rates from 45% to 99% for treatment times of 15-66 min. Especially ethinylestradiol and diclofenac were readily decomposed. As an inherent advantage of the method, we found no acidification and only an insignificant increase in nitrate/nitrite concentrations below legal limits for the treatment. Studies on the basic plasma chemical processes for the model system of phenol showed that the degradation is primarily caused by hydroxyl radicals.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. (INP Greifswald), Felix-Hausdorff-Strasse 2, 17489 Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Banaschik
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulse Plasma Systems, Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, Za Slovankou 3, 182 00 Prague 8, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lukes
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. (INP Greifswald), Felix-Hausdorff-Strasse 2, 17489 Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jablonowski
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. (INP Greifswald), Felix-Hausdorff-Strasse 2, 17489 Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Malte U
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Hammer
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. (INP Greifswald), Felix-Hausdorff-Strasse 2, 17489 Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus-Dieter
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Weltmann
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. (INP Greifswald), Felix-Hausdorff-Strasse 2, 17489 Greifswald, Germany. Electronic address: juergen.kolb@inp-greifswald.de.
authors.forename: Juergen F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Kolb
mesh_terms: D002220:Carbamazepine / Q000737:chemistry; D003973:Diatrizoate / Q000737:chemistry; D003975:Diazepam / Q000737:chemistry; D004008:Diclofenac / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol / Q000737:chemistry; D007052:Ibuprofen / Q000737:chemistry; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D003973:Diatrizoate; D004008:Diclofenac; D002220:Carbamazepine; D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol; D003975:Diazepam; D007052:Ibuprofen
keywords: Advanced oxidation; Diclofenac; Ethinylestradiol; Hydroxyl radicals; Non-thermal plasma; Phenol