Complex processes occur when combining non-thermal plasma with heterogenous catalysis, which obscures mechanistic understanding of plasma-catalysis synergy. Simultaneous homogenous plasma-phase reactions and heterogenous catalytic reactions take place in the system. Furthermore, the plasma-catalyst interaction is an interplay of dynamic processes, where plasma could impose chemical and/or physical changes on the catalyst and vice versa. Also, plasma causes overheating of the catalyst particles, hence, a potential apparent catalytic activity increase. Thus, a careful control and rigorous evaluation of surface reactions (in plasma environment) is vital to distinguish plasma contributions to catalytic surface reactions. In this study, we use SO2 hydrogenation as a probe reaction to investigate plasma-induced surface reactions, desorption, and dissociation of SO2. The decoupling of plasma-phase and surface reactions was achieved via temperature-programmed plasma surface reaction approach. The qualitative and quantitative analysis reveal a new reaction pathway (under plasma condition) between the strongly pre-adsorb SO2 molecules on the surface and hydrogen radicals in plasma-phase. Such a reaction pathway is not possible thermally. This work sheds light on the origin of plasma-catalysis synergy for SO2 hydrogenation and provides fundamental insight about the underlying reaction mechanisms.

Decoupling plasma-phase reactions from plasma-induced surface reactions in plasma-driven catalysis

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.