title: Decomposition of acetaminophen in water by a gas phase dielectric barrier discharge plasma combined with TiO2-rGO nanocomposite: Mechanism and degradation pathway.
abstract: Acetaminophen (APAP) served as the model pollutant to evaluate the feasibility of pollutant removal by gas phase dielectric barrier discharge plasma combined with the titanium dioxide-reduced Graphene Oxide (TiO2-rGO) nanocomposite. TiO2-rGO nanocomposite was prepared using the modified hydrothermal method and characterized by TEM and XPS before and after plasma process. The results indicated that the APAP degradation efficiency was significantly improved to 92% after 18min of discharge plasma treatment coupling 0.25gL-1TiO2-rGO 5%wt at 18kV, compared with the plasma alone and plasma combined with P25 TiO2. The degradation mechanism for APAP in this system was studied by investigating the effects of the operational variables (e.g. discharge voltage and pH value) and the amount of the generated active species; and the results showed that O3and H2O2yields were influenced notably by adding TiO2-rGO. Also, it was observed that, compared with unused TiO2-rGO, the photocatalytic performance of used TiO2-rGO declined after several recirculation times due to the further reduction of Graphene Oxide in plasma system. Finally, intermediate products were analyzed by UV-vis spectrometry and HPLC/MS, and possible transformation pathways were identified with the support of theoretically calculating the frontier electron density of APAP.
authors.affiliation: State Key laboratory of Pollution Control & Resources Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, PR China.
authors.forename: Guyu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key laboratory of Pollution Control & Resources Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, PR China. Electronic address: sybnju@163.com.
authors.forename: Yabing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key laboratory of Pollution Control & Resources Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, PR China.
authors.forename: Chunxiao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key laboratory of Pollution Control & Resources Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhongqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000032:analysis* / Q000528:radiation effects; D002384:Catalysis; D004867:Equipment Design; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000737:chemistry; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010126:Ozone / Q000737:chemistry; D010777:Photochemistry; D010782:Photolysis; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000528:radiation effects; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; D000082:Acetaminophen; D010126:Ozone; D006108:Graphite; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D014025:Titanium
keywords: Acetaminophen; Degradation pathway; Gas phase dielectric barrier discharge plasma; Reduced graphene oxide; TiO(2)