Plasma-assisted catalytic decomposition of paint exhaust with nano-TiO₂/SMF electrode

Decomposition of xylene, the major constituent of paint exhaust, was conducted in the lab by NTP (non-thermal plasma). The novel SMF (sintered metal fiber) and its modified material nano-TiO₂/SMF were adopted as the electrodes of the DBD (dielectric barrier discharges) reactor. Results showed that the maximum decomposition efficiency with nano-TiO₂/SMF electrodes could reach 92.1%. It is significantly higher than the efficiency obtained with regular SMF electrodes. Moreover, it was observed that nitrogen in carrier gas considerably promoted the activity of the catalytic performance of nano-TiO₂/SMF electrodes. The effects of TiO₂ loading, the composition of carrier gas, the peak voltage of electrodes, and relative humidity on the decomposition efficiency of xylene were also investigated in detail.