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Investigation of the Electrode Erosion in Pin-to-Liquid Discharges and Its Influence on Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species in Plasma-Activated Water

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Abstract

Although the erosion of high-voltage electrodes was extensively studied in in-liquid electrical discharges, to the best of our knowledge, the erosion produced by discharges generated above water has been barely explored. This work studies the erosion of three pin electrode materials (hafnium, copper, stainless steel) in two gas atmospheres (oxygen, air). They are powered by repetitive high-voltage nanosecond pulses, producing pulsed streamer discharges above water. The electrode material does not affect the energy deposited per pulse. The surfaces of all three electrodes erode, releasing metal particles into the water. Stainless steel is the material with least erosion, in both gas atmospheres. Overall, copper in air shows the highest erosion. We also examine how the metals released into the water affect three long-lived reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), H2O2, NO2− and NO3−, during four weeks post-discharge. After treatment with air plasma, NO2− and NO3− are measured in the treated water, but H2O2 is not detected. NO2− is almost completely converted into NO3− after two weeks. H2O2 is measured for samples prepared with an oxygen plasma. Neither the RONS nor the conductivity of plasma-treated water are significantly affected by the use of different electrode materials.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Gerald Hatch Faculty Fellowship and the McGill Engineering Doctoral Award. The authors thank Andrew Golsztajn for technical assistance and Benjamin Münch for helping to design and build the reactor.

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  1. Plasma Processing Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, Canada

    Elena Corella Puertas, Adna Dzafic & Sylvain Coulombe

  2. Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany

    Adna Dzafic

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  1. Elena Corella Puertas
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Correspondence to Elena Corella Puertas.

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Corella Puertas, E., Dzafic, A. & Coulombe, S. Investigation of the Electrode Erosion in Pin-to-Liquid Discharges and Its Influence on Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species in Plasma-Activated Water. Plasma Chem Plasma Process 40, 145–167 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-019-10036-3

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