Low-Density Polyethylene Degradation and Energy Yield Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge under Various Electrical Conditions

The increased use of plastics has seen the emergence of microplastics, which have become progressively more problematic. Although many degradation studies have been conducted to address the problem of microplastics, their impact has not been significant, and much time has been consumed. In this study, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) was degraded using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma under various electrical conditions. The experimental results showed that after 120 min of treatment, the removal efficiency reached 5.44%, the carbonyl index (CI) was 1.7308, and the O/C ratio was 0.028. The degree of degradation shown in previous studies was achieved rapidly, and experimental results showed that the degree of LDPE degradation and energy yield was proportional to the voltage and frequency—more specifically, the degree of LDPE surface and internal degradation differed, which should be considered in terms of reducing the extent of mass loss. The results of this study should be helpful for future studies on microplastic degradation using DBD techniques.