Oxidative degradation of formic acid in aqueous solution upon dielectric-barrier discharge treatment

The kinetics of degradation of formic acid in an aqueous solution during its dielectric-barrier discharge treatment in oxygen was studied. It was shown that, the lower the initial concentration and the longer the time of contact of the solution and the gas with the discharge zone, the higher the degree of conversion of the acid, which can reach 99%. It was found that the main degradation products (∼94% on carbon basis) are formaldehyde (∼24%) and carbon dioxide (∼70%).