Visible light photocatalytic degradation of polypropylene microplastics in a continuous water flow systemShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Journal of Hazardous Materials, ISSN 0304-3894, E-ISSN 1873-3336, Vol. 406, article id 124299Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Microplastic pollution of water and ecosystem is attracting continued attention worldwide. Due to their small sizes (≤5 mm) microplastic particles can be discharged to the environment from treated wastewater effluents. As microplastics have polluted most of our aquatic ecosystems, often finding its way into drinking water, there is urgent need to find new solutions for tackling the menace of microplastic pollution. In this work, sustainable green photocatalytic removal of microplastics from water activated by visible light is proposed as a tool for the removal of microplastics from water. We propose a novel strategy for the elimination of microplastics using glass fiber substrates to trap low density microplastic particles such as polypropylene (PP) which in parallel support the photocatalyst material. Photocatalytic degradation of PP microplastics spherical particles suspended in water by visible light irradiation of zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs) immobilized onto glass fibers substrates in a flow through system is demonstrated. Upon irradiation of PP microplastics for two weeks under visible light reduced led to a reduction of the average particle volume by 65%. The major photodegradation by-products were identified using GC/MS and found to be molecules that are considered to be mostly nontoxic in the literature.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier B.V. , 2021. Vol. 406, article id 124299
Keywords [en]
Microplastics, Microplastics removal, Photocatalysis, Polypropylene particles, ZnO NRs, Aquatic ecosystems, Effluents, Flow of water, Glass fibers, II-VI semiconductors, Irradiation, Light, Nanorods, Oxide minerals, Photocatalytic activity, Photodegradation, Polypropylenes, Potable water, Wastewater treatment, Water pollution, Zinc oxide, Flow-through systems, Microplastic particles, Photo catalytic degradation, Photo-catalytic removal, Photocatalyst materials, Treated wastewater, Visible-light irradiation, Zinc oxide nanorods, Microplastic, byproduct, discharge, drinking water, glass, immobilization, oxide group, photochemistry, plastic, visible spectrum
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-290248DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124299ISI: 000662119400005PubMedID: 33131945Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85094808761OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-290248DiVA, id: diva2:1538565
Note
QC 20210720
2021-03-192021-03-192023-12-07Bibliographically approved