Sustainable and tunable Mg/MgO plasmon-catalytic platform for the grand challenge of SF6 environmental remediation

Abstract

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) is one of the most harmful greenhouse gases producing environmental risks. Therefore, developing ways of degrading SF₆ without forming hazard products is increasingly important. Herein we demonstrate for the first time the plasmon-catalytic heterogeneous degradation of SF₆ into non-hazardous MgF₂ and MgSO₄ products by non-toxic and sustainable plasmonic magnesium/magnesium oxide (Mg/MgO) nanoparticles, which are also effective as a plasmonenhanced SF₆ chemometric sensor. The main product depends on the excitation wavelength; when the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is in the ultraviolet then MgF₂ forms, while visible light LSPR results in MgSO₄. Furthermore, Mg/MgO platforms can be regenerated in few seconds by hydrogen plasma treatment and can be re-used in a new cycle of air purification. Therefore, this research first demonstrates effectiveness of Mg/MgO plasmoncatalysis enabling environmental remediation with the concurrent functionalities of monitoring, degrading and detecting sulfur- and fluorine- gases in the atmosphere.