The effective treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is essential because of their direct effects on air pollution and human health. This paper introduces microwave-induced metal discharge as a highly effective and byproduct value-added approach to degrade high-concentration toluene as a model VOC. The effect of the factors that influence the discharge intensity, including the metal type (Fe, Cu, Ni, Zn) and amount, was investigated. Degradation efficiency of toluene can reach 79.76% under optimal discharge condition. In addition, the discharge method was compared with traditional thermal destruction at 700 °C, 900 °C and 1100 °C. The gaseous and liquid cracking products of toluene produced by the microwave-induced metal discharge method were almost similar to those obtained under thermal destruction at 900 °C; however, the solid-phase discharge products were nanoparticles that demonstrated good graphitization, while the thermal destruction products were amorphous microparticles. This work offers an effective and flexible way to degrade high-concentration VOCs and also provides an application reference for biomass tar cracking and removal of other organic pollutants.

中文翻译：

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微波诱导的金属放电和热破坏引起的VOC降解：一项比较研究

有效处理挥发性有机化合物（VOC）至关重要，因为它们直接影响空气污染和人体健康。本文介绍了微波诱导的金属放电作为一种高效的副产品增值方法，以降解高浓度的甲苯作为VOC模型。研究了影响放电强度的因素（包括金属类型（Fe，Cu，Ni，Zn）和数量）的影响。在最佳排放条件下，甲苯的降解效率可达到79.76％。此外，将放电方法与在700°C，900°C和1100°C下的传统热破坏进行了比较。微波诱导的金属放电法产生的甲苯气态和液态裂化产物与在900°C下热分解时得到的近似。然而，固相放电产物是表现出良好石墨化的纳米颗粒，而热破坏产物是无定形的微粒。这项工作为降解高浓度VOC提供了一种有效而灵活的方法，也为生物质焦油裂解和其他有机污染物的去除提供了应用参考。