Simultaneous degradation of p-nitrophenol and reduction of Cr(VI) in one step using microwave atmospheric pressure plasma.

Different physicochemical properties between Cr(VI) and phenolic compounds pose serious challenges for the effective treatment of co-contamination. This study developed an electrodeless high-flow microwave atmospheric plasma jet for the single-step simultaneous degradation of p-nitrophenol (PNP) and reduction of Cr(VI). Following a 15 min treatment with microwave atmospheric pressure plasma, the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) and PNP reached 97.

An electrodeless atmospheric microwave plasma jet for efficient degradation of antibiotic norfloxacin.

Plasma technology is increasingly being used for the degradation of residual antibiotics in aquatic environments. However, the electrodes in conventional plasma generators are subject to erosion, which can pollute the reaction system and shorten its lifetime. To overcome these drawbacks, we developed an electrodeless high-flow atmospheric microwave plasma jet (MPJ) for fast and efficient degradation of residual norfloxacin (NOR), a typical fluoroquinolone antibiotic that is frequently detected in the aquatic environment owing to its widespread use in the treatment of various infectious diseases.

A microwave atmospheric plasma strategy for fast and efficient degradation of aqueous p-nitrophenol.

Plasma technology has received intensive research interest in pollutants degradation. However, conventional plasma generator suffers from erosion of electrodes and consequent short life time and pollution. In this work, an electrodeless high-flow microwave atmospheric plasma jet is developed for fast degradation of p-nitrophenol.

A convenient sol-gel approach to the preparation of nano-porous silica coatings with very low refractive indices.

Silica coatings with refractive indices as low as 1.10 were prepared via a one-step base-catalysed sol-gel process using methyltriethoxysilane and tetraethoxysilane as co-precursors. No expensive equipment was required and the method did not require etching or high-temperature calcination.