Research on decoloration of dye wastewater by combination of pulsed discharge plasma and TiO2 nanoparticles

Pulsed discharge plasma and semiconductor photocatalysis are typical advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs) for disposing organic compounds in aqueous solutions. In this paper, the two techniques were combined together by using pulsed discharge streamer as the lamp-house to induce photocatalysis of semiconductor TiO2. The engendered photocatalysis was considered to be able to enhance degradation efficiency of organic compounds in the pulsed discharge plasma system. The synergistic effect of pulsed discharge plasma and TiO2 nanoparticles, and the relation of decoloration efficiency of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) dye wastewater with TiO2 particles amount added into the reaction system as well as electric parameters of the discharge system were investigated in the research. The results obtained confirmed that streamer produced by pulsed discharge plasma could induce the photocatalysis of TiO2 and there was an optimal TiO2 amount in the pulsed discharge system for achieving a higher decoloration efficiency of AO7. The synergistic decoloration efficiency of AO7 was higher in the case of the higher input power.