Spectroscopic investigation of the time evolution of CO2 dissociation in a nanosecond plasmadischarge

Plasma-driven conversion of major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, etc.) represents a promising way to simultaneously store renewable energy and convert the greenhouse gases into value-added compounds. Nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharges have shown high efficiency in CO2 reduction to CO, and O2[1, 2]. To gain further insights into the physical and chemical mechanisms of CO2 dissociation in the first microseconds after the discharge pulse, collisional energy transfer laser-induced fluorescence (CET-LIF) and time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy have been employed to probe the evolution of the gas composition and the translational temperature, respectively.