Degradation of malachite green by dielectric barrier discharge plasma.

Oxidative decomposition of aqueous organic pollutant malachite green (MG) was studied in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor operated under ambient conditions. Total organic carbon content analysis confirmed the mineralization of the pollutant leading to the formation of carbon dioxide, which was confirmed by an infrared analyzer. Typical results indicated that the degradation rate increases with increasing applied voltage and decreases with increasing concentration. Dye degradation followed first order kinetics. The intermediate products formed during the degradation of MG were identified by a high resolution mass spectrometer (HR-MS) and proposed a plausible mechanism for the mineralization process.