Plasma Catalysis

Plasma Catalysis is procuring developing attention for several gas conversion applications, such as CO₂ conversion into value-added chemicals and fuels, N₂ fixation for the structure of NH₃ or NOx, methane conversion into higher hydrocarbons or oxygenates. It is also broadly used for air pollution control (e.g., VOC  remediation). Plasma catalysis allows thermodynamically complex reactions to proceed at ambient pressure and temperature, due to activation of the gas molecules by active electrons created in the plasma. However, plasma is very reactive but not selective, and thus a catalyst is required to increase the selectivity.

Despite the growing concern in plasma catalysis, the underlying mechanisms of the synergy between plasma and catalyst are not still fully understood. Certainly, plasma catalysis is quite complex, as the plasma will change the catalyst and vice versa. Besides, due to the reactive plasma environment, the most proper catalysts will apparently be different from thermal catalysts. More research is required to better understand the plasma - catalyst interactions, in order to additional develop the applications.

It is probable to introduce a catalyst after a plasma zone and transform some of the still excited species existing in the gas state into products at the surface of the catalyst, known as PPC. Plasma can also generate activated species at a surface as well as in the gas phase.