Accelerated plasma degradation of organic pollutants in milliseconds and examinations by mass spectrometry

The rapid degradation of organic pollutants, process monitoring and online controlling to obtain advanced products and decreased by-products are great and challenging tasks in environmental treatments. Herein, an accelerated plasma degradation in milliseconds was achieved by combining electrospray-based acceleration and plasma-based degradation. Taking the degradation of chloroaniline as an example, 97% of the degradation can be achieved in milliseconds. The velocity distribution of droplets was determined to be 40–50 m/s after being degraded for 0.30 ms, which exhibited different degradation behaviors in different milliseconds. Simultaneously, by virtue of the real-time and on-line detection ability of ambient mass spectrometry, intermediates, by-products and advanced products were monitored. Therefore, degradation mechanisms for different degradation times were proposed, which would provide theoretical guidance on obtaining efficient and green degradation. The fabrication, examining and understanding of accelerated plasma degradation not only enlarged application of accelerated reactions, but also promoted green and efficient degradation for environmental treatments.