New efficient depollution techniques for water decontamination, purification and disinfection are being sought to replace those classic methods (chemical, filtration, ozonisation, photochemical reactions) that have deficiency for some substances. The use of plasma technologies, discharges in, or in contact with, wastewater are promising approaches for the decomposition of pollutants by highly oxidative radicals, charged particles, UV radiation, etc. produced by plasma.

In the present study we report on the potential of radiofrequency single and multiple filamentary Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) jets for the decolorization of methylene blue (MB) dye in water solutions. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) investigations were performed for the characterization of plasma evolving in air, and in liquid. The decolorization process was monitored by absorption spectroscopy. We determined the decolorization time, according to a variety of external parameters.

The key parameters for obtaining the maximum decolorization rate were identified as being the discharge tube diameter, tube nature (glass/ceramic), the injected power in the discharge, the type of reactive gas and the number of filamentary plasma jets.