Application of Nanotechnology in Water Research

Chapter 4

Plasma Technology: A New Remediation for Water Purification with or without Nanoparticles

Pankaj Attri*^,1, Bharti Arora², Rohit Bhatia³, P. Venkatesu³ and Eun Ha Choi¹

¹Plasma Bioscience Research Center / Department of Electrical and Biological Physics, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, Korea

²Department of Applied Science, ITM University, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.

³Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

*Corresponding author: [e-mail]

Abstract

One of the most serious problems facing billions of people today is the availability of fresh water. The conventional water recycling methods like chemical oxidation processes and advanced oxidation processes (AOP) are effective but have problems such as high cost, secondary pollution and production of chlorinated species. To overcome these problems nanoparticles are increasingly used. The conventional methods of nanoparticle production usually requires a long time and have a high cost, which render them ineffective for large-scale production of nanoparticles. Nanoparticle production using the plasma technique overcomes these shortcomings. Additionally, the plasma itself acts as a perfect method for water purification due to the formation of various reactive chemical species such as radicals (OH·, H·, O·, HO₂·) and molecular species (H₂O₂, H₂, O₂). Hence, the use of the combined action of nanoparticles and plasma is a new method for solving water treatment problems.

Keywords: Water purification, plasma ...