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Unraveling the Role of Gas-Phase Plasma Species in PFAS Degradation During Treatment of Contaminated Water with Submerged Gliding Arc Plasma (GAP) Discharge
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Unraveling the Role of Gas-Phase Plasma Species in PFAS Degradation During Treatment of Contaminated Water with Submerged Gliding Arc Plasma (GAP) Discharge

Mikaela Joy Surace, Mobish Abraham Shaji, Erich Heinzel, Jimmy Murillo-Gelvez, Jitlekha Tubsuri, Alexander Fridman, Alexander Rabinovich, Erica R. Mckenzie, Gregory Fridman and Christopher Sales
Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, v 46(5), 82
23 Jun 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-026-10688-y
Featured in Collection :   Research Supported by Drexel Libraries' OA Programs
url
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-026-10688-yView
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open Access via Drexel Libraries Read and Publish Program 2026 Open CC BY V4.0

Abstract

Emerging contaminants Non-equilibrium plasma Water treatment Plasma-assisted processes Reactive species PFAS destruction PFAS thermal degradation Plasma Fusion Spectroscopy
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are resistant to degradation by typical treatment methods. Various technologies utilizing non-equilibrium plasma, including gliding arc plasma (GAP) discharge, show promise for degrading PFAS in water. This study investigated the mechanism by which air GAP discharge degrades PFAS in water. Experiments scavenging aqueous plasma species indicated that hydrated electrons (e− aq) are important to degradation, but do not play a significant role in mineralization, while reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) appeared to play a negligible role. On the other hand, experiments that scavenged gas-phase charged particles decreased PFAS degradation and completely inhibited mineralization. Based on these results, degradation products, and previous literature on PFAS degradation pathways and GAP treatment of PFAS-contaminated water, several significant pathways for PFAS degradation during GAP treatment were hypothesized: (1) thermal mineralization driven by gas-phase charged particles, (2) H/F exchange driven by free electrons (e−) at the plasma-water interface or e− aq at the plasma-water interface and in the bulk liquid, and (3) fragmentation via charge transfer from gas-phase charged particles. While the significance of gas-phase charged particles to PFAS degradation in water during non-equilibrium plasma treatment has been previously hypothesized and modeled, this study provides the first experimental evidence of their role.

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