Aqueous p-nitrotoluene oxidation induced with direct glow discharge plasma

摘要

A plasma induced degradation process has been studied to treat 4-nitrotoluene(4- NT)present as an aqueous pollutant.The plasma was locally generated from a glow discharge around a tip of a platinum anode in an electrolytic solution.The influence of initial pH and Fe~(2+) on the degradation was examined.Major intermediates resulting from the degradation process were identified.Amongst the aromatic intermediates,p-hydroxybenzoic acid was the predominant degradation product.The formation of oxalic acid,malic acid was also observed. The final products of degradation were NH~+_4, NO_3 and CO_2.Based on the analysis of intermediates and the kinetic considerations,the degradation was shown to follow a pseudo- first order reaction hence,a possible reaction pathway was proposed.