Degradation of nicotine in water solutions using a water falling film DBD plasma reactor: direct and indirect treatment

Abstract

Nicotine degradation efficiency in water solutions was studied using a water falling film dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor. Two different treatments were applied: direct treatment, the recirculation of the solution through a DBD reactor, and indirect treatment, the bubbling of the gas from the DBD through the porous filter into the solution. In a separate experiment, samples spiked with nicotine in double distilled water (ddH2O) and tap water were studied and compared after both treatments. Furthermore, the effects of the homogeneous catalysts, namely, Fe2+ and H2O2, were tested in the direct treatment. Nicotine degradation efficiency was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography. A degradation efficiency of 90% was achieved after the direct treatment catalyzed with Fe2+. In order to analyze the biodegradability, mineralization level, and toxicity of the obtained solutions, after all degradation procedures the values of the following parameters were determined: total organic carbon, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, and the Artemia salina toxicity test. The results showed that an increase in biodegradability was obtained, after all treatments. A partial nicotine mineralization was achieved and the mortality of the A. salina organism decreased in the treated samples, all of which indicating the effective removal of nicotine and the creation of less toxic solutions. Nicotine degradation products were identified using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a linear ion trap Orbitrap hybrid mass spectrometer and a simple mechanism for oxidative degradation of nicotine in non-thermal plasma systems is proposed.

Recent Progress and Prospects in Catalytic Water Treatment

“…313,314 Other complex molecules such as nicotine ((S)-3-(1-methylpyrrolidin-2-yl)pyridine (C 10 H 14 N 2 )), an agonist at most nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or ibuprofen ((N-[2-cyclohexyloxy-4-nitrophenyl] methanesulfonamide)), an analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug, were as well partially degraded in similar conditions (Figure 40). 315,316 These results confirmed the importance of soluble metal species in the process. Other more reactive additives such as CaO 2 , acting as promoter, were also found to enhance the degradation rate compared to H 2 O 2 .…”

“…The same effect was observed in the case of another penicillin (norfloxacin) or methylene blue. , Other complex molecules such as nicotine ((S)-3-(1-methyl­pyrrolidin-2-yl)­pyridine (C 10 H 14 N 2 )), an agonist at most nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or ibuprofen ((N-[2-cyclohexyloxy-4-nitrophenyl] methane­sulfonamide)), an analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug, were as well partially degraded in similar conditions (Figure ). , …”

A Microfluidic Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Reactor for Water Treatment

“…4 is 0.088 s −1 , 0.11 s −1 and 0.13 s −1 for air, argon and oxygen respectively. This model was used to show that using the microfluidic device allows high degradation efficacy to be achieved, with residence times in the order of seconds rather than the minutes or hours that have been reported in numerous studies [34][35][36][37]45]. The results show that maximising residence time leads to enhanced degradation.…”

“…These conditions produced a thin film of liquid on the walls of the microchannels, enabling control of two key parameters for PWT: liquid film thickness and residence time. In general, the microfluidic device operated with liquid films on the order of micrometres and residence times of seconds, compared to batch type plasma reactors reported in literature with residence times in the order of several minutes or hours and film thicknesses of several millimetres [12,[34][35][36][37]. The mean residence time of the solution in two-phase annular flow along the plasma discharge zone was estimated as the ratio of the inner volume of the reactor to the volumetric flow rate [38], ranging from 3 to 9 s and 1 to 5 s in 100 μm and 50 μm channel depths, respectively.…”

Removal of Pharmaceutical Residues from Water and Wastewater Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Methods—A Review

“…Alternatively, non-thermal electrical discharge systems have been found very effective due to the generation of different molecular and ionic free reactive species, UV radiation, and shock waves at ambient conditions without chemical additives [ 43 ]. The combination of these species forms a mixture of potent oxidants in the bulk solution that mineralises water pollutants in a short period [ 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. AOPs induced by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) are considered more effective due to their plasma properties and reactor configurations [ 47 , 48 , 49 ].…”