Regulating generation of radical and non-radical in plasma systems for selective degradation of persistent organic pollutants in water with high salinity resistance and slight environmental implication: Regulatory method and selective mechanism

The complexity of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and high concentration of inorganic ion in practical wastewater pose great challenges to non-thermal plasma (NTP). How to treat POPs with high selectivity and high salt resistance is an important problem in the field of water treatment. This paper proposes for the first time to solve the above problems by regulating radicals and non-radicals. The regulated valence band level (2.38 V vs. NHE) of C 3 N 4 by doping of B can effectively activate the generation of radicals. Cu doping of C 3 N 4 can also provide more H 2 O 2 catalytic sites for generation of non-radicals. The C 3 N 4 allows NTP to activate persulfate efficiently and increase the radicals and non-radicals jointly. Sulfamethoxazole (SMX), bisphenol A (BPA) and methyl orange (MO) along with 13 other contaminants were selected as typical POPs. Based on experiments and theoretical calculations, the degradation effects, catalysis mechanism, water matrix, intermediate product toxicity and influencing factors were investigated. Research shows that the radical system has higher selectivity for hydroxyl and amine groups, while the non-radical system has higher selectivity for benzene ring . For the same pollutant, the radical system (99.3 %) often exhibits a better degradation effect versus non-radical system (78.2 %). However, non-radical systems show phenomenal adaptability to complex water matrix environments and lower intermediate toxicity in degradation process. This paper provides an important reference for regulating radicals and non-radicals to improve pollutant selectivity and salinity adaptability. • Regulation of radicals and non-radicals in NTP was realized for the first time. • B/Cu-C 3 N 4 can effectively regulate the band structure and catalyze H 2 O 2 . • Radical and non-radical system show 99.3 % and 78.2 % removal efficiency respectively. • Non-radicals dominant NTP system could effectively resist high salinity wastewater. • Toxicities of byproducts produced by non-radicals are less than that by radicals.