Effective degradation of lindane and its isomers by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma: Synergistic effects of various reactive species

Lindane is a broad-spectrum organochlorine insecticide which has been included in the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) list together with its two hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers. Due to its continuous use in the past decades, the environmental impacts of HCHs are still severe now. Therefore, in the present study, dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma was used as an advanced oxidation process for the destruction of HCHs in water. The result indicated that in air-DBD system, over 95.4% of the initial 5 mg L−1 lindane was degraded within 60 min. Moreover, DBD plasma displayed high degradation efficiencies of other HCH isomers including α, β, and δ-HCH. Electron spin resonance spectra, scavenging experiments and theoretical calculations revealed that the synergistic effects of various reactive species were the main reason for the high efficiency of DBD plasma. For instance, both hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and electrons (e−) could initiate the degradation of HCHs, while other reactive species such as 1O2 and ONOOH played important roles in the decomposition of intermediates. Therefore, the present study not only provided an effective approach for the treatment of HCHs, but also revealed the underlying mechanism based on in-depth experimental investigation and theoretical calculation.