Role of solvent in plasma-assisted peroxymonosulfate-hydrothermal process for plastic conversion

Xin Wang; Wenjing Lu; Hui Wang; Jingzhe Zhang; Zhiguo Qu; Fuming Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.130968

Role of solvent in plasma-assisted peroxymonosulfate-hydrothermal process for plastic conversion

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Apr 15:448:130968. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.130968. Epub 2023 Feb 8.

Authors

Xin Wang¹, Wenjing Lu², Hui Wang³, Jingzhe Zhang², Zhiguo Qu⁴, Fuming Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Research Institute of Frontier Science, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, School of Electronics and Information Engineering, South China Normal University, Foshan 528225, China. Electronic address: xin.wang@scnu.edu.cn.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, School of Electronics and Information Engineering, South China Normal University, Foshan 528225, China.
³ School of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China. Electronic address: wanghui2018@nwpu.edu.cn.
⁴ MOE Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, China.
⁵ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, School of Electronics and Information Engineering, South China Normal University, Foshan 528225, China. Electronic address: fmchen@m.scnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36860079
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.130968

Abstract

Hydrothermal processes are considered a promising strategy for the conversion of ever-growing plastic wastes. Plasma-assisted peroxymonosulfate-hydrothermal process has attracted increasing attention in enhancing the efficiency of hydrothermal conversion. However, the role of solvent in this process is unclear and rarely researched. Herein, the conversion process with different water-based solvents was investigated based on a plasma-assisted peroxymonosulfate-hydrothermal reaction. As the ratio of the solvent effective volume in the reactor increased from 20% to 53.3%, the conversion efficiency displayed an obvious decrease from 7.1% to 4.2%. The results indicated that the increased pressure caused by the solvent greatly reduced the surface reaction and forced the hydrophilic groups to shift back to the carbon chain, thereby reducing the reaction kinetics. A further increase in the solvent effective volume ratio could promote the conversion in the inner layer of the plastics to achieve an increase of the conversion efficiency. These findings can provide valuable guidance for the design of hydrothermal conversion for plastic wastes.

Keywords: Hydrothermal; Peroxymonosulfate; Plasma; Plastic conversion; Solvent influence.