Direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from plasma-water interactions

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is usually considered to be an important reagent in green chemistry since water is the only by-product in H2O2 involved oxidation reactions. Early studies show that direct synthesis of H2O2 by plasma-water interactions is possible, while the factors affecting the H2O2 production in this method remain unclear. Herein, we present a study on the H2O2 synthesis by atmospheric pressure plasma-water interactions. The results indicate that the most important factors for the H2O2 production are the processes taking place at the plasma-water interface, including sputtering, electric field induced hydrated ion emission, and evaporation. The H2O2 production rate reaches similar to 1200 mu mol/h when the liquid cathode is purified water or an aqueous solution of NaCl with an initial conductivity of 10500 mu S cm(-1).