Due to its highly reactive species, non-thermal plasmas have been used to oxidize inert compounds at room temperature. In order to avoid gas phase reactions, that minimize selective oxidation, plasma processing is limited to the heterogeneous processing of non-volatile compounds. In this work, we present an alternative method for the oxidation of volatile and semi-volatile hydrocarbons. Adsorption of volatile organic compounds (VOC) onto a metal oxide surface prevents its partition to the gas phase, allowing reactions between free radicals, generated via non-thermal plasmas, and the surface-bound VOC. A well-characterized oxygen plasma was used to selectively oxidize organic coatings on alumina surfaces using a two-dimensional analysis reaction chamber. The reaction chamber allowed for the controlled generation of O(3P), the oxidizing agent of adsorbed hydrocarbons on the alumina powder, and in situ vibrational spectroscopy of surface species. Here, we present the room-temperature heterogeneous oxidation of 1-hexene, cyclohexane, and cyclohexene. Oxidation preferentially forms alcohols, and carbonyl groups as reaction products. Epoxides are also formed when the surface hydrocarbon contains double bonds. Our results show a novel and effective method for the free-radical reaction with absorbed volatile compounds. A pseudo-first order kinetic analysis of the O(3P) reaction with organic coating is also presented.

Vibrational spectroscopy study of O(3P) reactions with adsorbed organic compounds

2019 Spring National Meeting

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