Time‐sharing synergy of NOx mode and O₃ mode air discharges for efficient and pollution‐free disinfection

As an alternative disinfection technology, air plasma is limited to achieve wider application due to its restricted disinfection level and hazardous by‐products including O 3 and NO x . In this work, a time‐sharing synergy strategy is proposed, where NO and NO 2 are first generated by a dielectric barrier discharge reactor in NO x mode, and then the discharge is switched into O 3 mode by increasing flowrate, thus producing large amounts of high‐valence NO x for efficient disinfection in sealed space. The disinfection effect of time‐sharing synergy is about 2 logs higher than using single O 3 or NO x mode with the same discharge power. The concentration of high‐valence NO x is highly correlated with disinfection effect. Finally, all disinfection ingredients are removed after 2‐min gas‐washing and heating.