Study on the efficiency and enhanced energy utilization in high-concentration SF6 degradation via DBD: Synergistic CeO2 catalysis and TiO2 photocatalysis

This study proposes a novel approach for synergistically degrading sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) combined with TiO₂/CeO₂ photocatalysis. By introducing UV-responsive TiO₂, the photocatalytic activity of the catalyst was significantly enhanced, thereby improving the overall degradation performance for SF 6 . Under the conditions of a Ti/Ce molar ratio of 0.05:0.95 and an input power of 60 W, a degradation efficiency (DRE) of 99.99% was achieved when degrading 2% SF₆. Compared with pure CeO 2 (with a DRE of 92.44%), the DRE has increased by 7.55%, and the selectivity of SO 2 in the product has also significantly improved, indicating that the doping of TiO 2 promotes the more complete degradation of SF 6 . Compared to using DBD alone, the DRE increased by 4.7 times, and the energy yield (EY) increased by 12.78 g/kWh. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the TiO₂/CeO₂ composite catalyst enhances the surface adsorption capacity for SF 6 molecules. Mechanistic analysis further revealed that the UV light generated by DBD excites TiO₂/CeO₂ to produce photogenerated electron-hole pairs, while the high-energy electrons in the plasma region effectively suppress carrier recombination. This study confirms the significant potential of the DBD-photocatalysis synergistic system for treating highly stable SF 6 .