Application of cold plasma-activated bubbles for algal treatment

Algal and cyanobacterial blooms incur current treatment challenges such as high operational cost, disinfectant by-product formation, and the requirement to separate oxidants from solution after the oxidation. Advanced oxidation methods, such as cold plasma activated bubbles (CPABs), have the potential to overcome the current challenges. CPABs are bubbles containing partially or fully ionised gas that utilise the ambient condition of gas and an electric discharge to produce and deliver highly reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl, superoxide, and nitric oxide radicals. These multiple reactive species provides multiple oxidation pathways to degrade and remove algae from water, which suggests to be efficient under various water conditions unlike the use of single oxidant which can be quite selective. However, it is still unknown how CPABs would work under different conditions when treating algae. Hence, this project will examine methods to optimise the application of CPAB across a range of algal and cyanobacterial species, bubble sizes, and solution condition to increase its technology readiness level.