Microfabricated planar glass gas chromatography with photoionization detection.

We report the development of a microfabricated gas chromatography system suitable for the separation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and compatible with use as a portable measurement device. Hydrofluoric acid etching of 95x95mm Schott B270 wafers has been used to give symmetrical hemi-spherical channels within a glass substrate. Two matching glass plates were subsequently cold bonded with the channels aligned; the flatness of the glass surfaces resulted in strong bonding through van der Waals forces.

Novel method for enhancing the destruction of environmental pollutants by the combination of multiple plasma discharges.

A novel, multistage, dielectric, packed-bed, plasma reactor has been developed and is used to efficiently destroy environmental pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A three cell plasma reactor, operated at ambient pressure and low temperatures, is found to be an effective technology for complete VOC remediation in air. The combination of plasma cells in series can significantly improve the efficiency of VOC decomposition, but the combined destruction rate is not simply an additive effect, there is a synergistic enhancement related to the effect on the plasma chemistry of sequential processing in the three cells.

NOx formation in the plasma treatment of halomethanes.

A nonthermal, atmospheric pressure plasma, made-up of a BaTiO3 packed-bed reactor, has been used to study the formation of NOx and N2O during the plasma destruction of a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants, including chlorinated, brominated, fluorinated, and iodinated methane species, in a carrier gas of air. Using the plasma destruction of pure air as a baseline, it is found that the amount of NOx formed is unaffected by the addition of a few hundred parts per million of a simple hydrocarbon (e.g.