Decomposition of ethylene oxide in the RF plasma environment.

A radio frequency (RF) plasma system was used to decompose the ethylene oxide (EO) contained gas in the EO/Ar, and EO/O2/Ar system, respectively. The reactants and final products were analyzed by using FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy). The effects of plasma operational parameters, including input power wattage (W), total gas flow rate (Q), feeding concentration (C) of EO and operational pressure for EO decomposition were evaluated. Due to the importance of the high-energy electrons in the RF plasma system, the EO decomposition fraction in plasma reaction increased with decreasing operational pressure, while that of thermal reaction, reported by previous investigations, increased with increasing operational pressure. However, owing to the electrophilic characteristic of oxygen atoms in the EO molecule causing the effect of electron attachment, in conditions of higher EO feeding concentration, the pressure dependence became the same for both plasma- and thermal-reaction. The EO oxidation reaction has also been investigated, the result shows that EO almost completely oxidized at 600-692 K gas temperature. The main products for the EO/Ar system are CO, CH4, C2H6, C2H4, and C2H2, and those for the EO/O2/Ar system are CO2 and H2O.