Intensification of gas-phase isopropanol decomposition and co-production of hydrogen via coaxial DBD plasma coupled with low-loading Ni/TiO2 catalysts

Volatile organic compound (VOCs) abatement technologies are often limited by high energy and the generation of secondary pollutants. This study presents a waste-to-resource strategy by integrating non-thermal plasma (NTP) with Ni/TiO 2 catalysts for simultaneous isopropanol (IPA) degradation and hydrogen production. Ni/TiO 2 catalysts containing 1–10 wt% Ni were synthesized via wet impregnation and evaluated in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor. The 1 wt% Ni catalyst exhibited highly dispersed NiO nanoparticles, preserved mesoporosity (52.45 m 2 g −1 ), and improved plasma characteristics (E/N = 86.9 Td; mean electron energy = 3.5 eV). Under optimal conditions (1000 ppm IPA, 1% O 2 , and 1% H 2 O (g) ), the integrated system achieved 84.3% IPA conversion, 2.49 g kWh −1 removal efficiency, and 0.218 g kWh −1 H 2 yield. The system achieved a 72.2% mineralization, reduced toxicity, and recovered 11-22% hydrogen-energy and evaluated CO 2 -equivalent emissions. These findings demonstrate the potential of plasma-catalytic technology for VOCs abatement, hydrogen generation and resource recovery.