Machine learning to guide the use of plasma technology for antibiotic degradation.

Antibiotics are misused and discharged into environmental water, posing a constant potential threat to the ecosystem. Utilising plasma's physical and chemical effects to remove antibiotics has emerged as a promising wastewater treatment technology. However, the complexity and high cost of reactor configurations represent significant limitations to the practical application of this technology. Furthermore, evaluating the degradation efficiency of antibiotics necessitates using costly and sophisticated testing instruments, coupled with time-consuming and labour-intensive experiments. The present study developed a generalised model using machine learning algorithms to predict the removal efficiency of antibiotics by a plasma system. Of the eight machine learning algorithms constructed, the ensemble model XGBoost exhibited the highest prediction accuracy, as indicated by a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.943. This correlation indicates a strong relationship between the predicted removal rates and the experimental values. Moreover, the accuracy of the prediction was enhanced through the utilisation of a multi-model stacking approach. A further quantitative assessment of the key factors affecting the efficiency of the plasma process, and their synergistic effects, is provided by the interpretable analysis of the model's behaviour. It is anticipated that the results will facilitate the design of efficient plasma systems, reduce the need for extensive experimental screening, and improve practical applications in the removal of antibiotic contamination. This provides an informative view of the applications of plasma technology, opening the way for new environmental research questions.

In-depth analysis of the effect of catalysts on plasma technologies for treatment of various wastes.

Energy security and waste management are gaining global attention. The modern world is producing a large amount of liquid and solid waste as a result of the increasing population and industrialization. A circular economy encourages the conversion of waste to energy and other value-added products. Waste processing requires a sustainable route for a healthy society and clean environment. One of the emerging solutions for waste treatment is plasma technology. It converts waste into syngas, oil, and char/slag depending on the thermal/non-thermal processes. Most of all the types of carbonaceous wastes can be treated by plasma processes. The addition of a catalyst to the plasma process is a developing field as plasma processes are energy intensive. This paper covers the detailed concept of plasma and catalysis. It comprises various types of plasma (non-thermal and thermal) and catalysts (zeolites, oxides, and salts) which have been used for waste treatment. Catalyst addition improves gas yield and hydrogen selectivity at moderate temperatures. Depending on the properties of the catalyst and type of plasma, comprehensive points are listed for the selection of the right catalyst for a plasma process. This review offers an in-depth analysis of the research in the field of waste-to-energy using plasma-catalytic processes.

Degradation of contaminants in plasma technology: An overview.

The information of plasma technologies applications for environmental clean-up on treating and degrading metals, metalloids, dyes, biomass, antibiotics, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), bacteria, virus and fungi is compiled and organized in the review article. Different reactor configurations of plasma technology have been applied for reactive species generation, responsible for the pollutants removal, hydrogen and methane production and microorganism inactivation. Therefore, in this review article, the reactive species from discharge plasma are presented here to provide the insight into the environmental applications. The combinations of plasma technology with flux agent and photocatalytic are also given in this review paper associated with the setup of the plasma system on the removal process of metals, VOCs, and microorganisms. Furthermore, the potential of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) inactivation via plasma technology is also described in this review paper. Detailed information of plasma parameter configuration is given to support the influence of the critical process in the plasma system to deal with contaminants.