Experimental Study on the Reaction of CCl3F and CH4 in a Dielectric Barrier Discharge Nonequilibrium Plasma Reactor

The reaction of CCl 3 F (CFC-11) with CH 4 (in an argon bath gas) in a dielectric barrier discharge nonequilibrium plasma was examined. Oxygen and nitrogen were excluded from the feed stream and the reactions resulted in the production of fluorine-containing polymers, as well as a range of gaseous products including H 2 , HCl, HF, C 2 H 3 F, C 2 H 3 Cl, C 2 H 2 ClF, CHCl 2 F, CCl 2 F 2 , CH 3 Cl, CH 2 Cl 2 , CHCl 3 , and C 2 Cl 4 . The polymeric material synthesized during reaction is characterized as being non-cross-linked and random in nature, containing functional groups including CH 3 , CH 2 , CHCl, CHF, CF 2 , and CF 3 . The conversion level of CCl 3 F increased from 37% to 63% as the input energy density increased from 3 to 13 kJ L -1 (the applied voltage range was 14.1 to 15.2 kV, peak-peak). The electrical discharge was characterized and found to be a slight modification of filamentary discharge toward a diffuse discharge due to the presence of the relatively low concentration of CCl 3 F and CH 4 (less than 2% each) in argon. A reaction mechanism is proposed describing the formation of gas phase, as well as polymeric products