A dielectric barrier discharge reactor, either exposed to atmosphere or immersed in an oil bath, was used to investigate the effects of self-heating on CHF3 decomposition. In the ambient air condition, considerable amounts of energy were delivered to the plasma system in conjunction with high temperatures of the reactor wall, which were due to self-heating. In addition, a great deal of power was used for heating. A comparison of these two ambient conditions on plasma reactions demonstrated that the reactor in oil showed a stable discharge and yielded a greater energy efficiency, suggesting that the immersion of the plasma reactor in electrically insulating oil improved the performance of CHF3 decomposition. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.