Direct decomposition of CO2 using self‐cooling dielectric barrier discharge plasma

Abstract As a greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is one of the major causes of global warming. The effective control of CO 2 emission has become a major global concern. To reduce CO 2 emission in the environment and to maximize the use of CO 2 , a self‐cooling wire‐cylinder dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reactor was used to decompose CO 2 at ambient conditions, and the results were compared with a common wire‐cylinder DBD reactor. Results indicated that in the said plasma reactor, circulating water could obviously improve discharge efficiency through taking away heat that was generated during plasma discharge process, and a more stable and homogeneous discharge was easier to obtain. The CO 2 decomposition rate was 26.1% without using any catalysts and discharge mediums or modifying electrodes, and this value was significantly higher than that in the common wire‐cylinder DBD reactor (10.1% CO 2 decomposition rate). Moreover, the CO 2 decomposition rate could reach up to 35.8% when N 2 was added (volume ratio ). © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.