Sustainable and Tunable Mg/MgO Plasmon-Catalytic Platform for the Grand Challenge of SF<sub>6</sub> Environmental Remediation
Yael Gutiérrez, Maria M. Giangregorio, Fabio Palumbo, F. González, April S. Brown, Fernando Moreno, María Losurdo
Abstract
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) is one of the most harmful greenhouse gases producing environmental risks. Therefore, developing ways of degrading SF 6 without forming hazardous products is increasingly important. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time the plasmon-catalytic heterogeneous degradation of SF 6 into nonhazardous MgF 2 and MgSO 4 products by nontoxic and sustainable plasmonic magnesium/magnesium oxide (Mg/MgO) nanoparticles, which are also effective as a plasmon-enhanced SF 6 chemometric sensor. The main product depends on the excitation wavelength; when the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is in the ultraviolet, then MgF 2 forms, while visible light LSPR results in MgSO 4 . Furthermore, Mg/MgO platforms can be regenerated in few seconds by hydrogen plasma treatment and can be reused in a new cycle of air purification. Therefore, this research first demonstrates effectiveness of Mg/MgO plasmon-catalysis enabling environmental remediation with the concurrent functionalities of monitoring, degrading, and detecting sulfur and fluorine gases in the atmosphere.