Recent advancement on photocatalytic plastic upcycling

Abstract

Currently, more than 8 billion tons of plastics have been generated since 1950. About 80% of these plastics have been dumped in landfills or went into natural environments, resulting in...

Effective Removal of Microplastic Particles from Wastewater Using Hydrophobic Bio-Substrates

“…Increasing the MPP concentration also increases the adsorption percentage to a limiting value that might be caused by steric hindrance among the absorbed MPPs. These experimental observations suggest the existence of strong hydrophobic interactions between the non-polar (e.g., HDPE, PP, LDPE, and PVC) plastic surfaces [29,67,68,102,106] and the hydrophobic "waxy" film on the CFs surface as verified via FTIR (Section 3.1). The experimental evidence obtained in this study suggests that hydrophobic interactions dominate the physisorption process of MPPs onto the hydrophobic surface of CFs.…”

“…The batch adsorption tests were carried out at ambient temperature (e.g., 24 • C) by placing a container with a flat bottom with the corresponding mass of microplastic particles. Then, 200 mL of distilled water (DW) or produced water (PW) was transferred onto the surface of the MPPs, which immediately floated to the surface of the liquid because the hydrophobicity of the plastic materials limits their dispersion in aqueous solutions [67,68]. Afterward, a fixed mass of cattail fibres (0.3 g) was placed on the surface of the liquid, and the mixture was slightly stirred using a spatula for 30 s to aid further contact between the MPPs and the CFs.…”

Recent advances in oxidative degradation of plastics

“…Some recent publications highlight heterogeneous photocatalysis in the oxidative degradation of polymers. 28,138 TiO 2 is a commonly used heterogeneous photocatalyst due to its outstanding stability in photochemical processes. 139 In 2019, Raditoiu and coworkers cast polyolefin films with and without 1 or 2 wt% TiO 2 nanoparticles and irradiated them with an Xenon lamp for 192 h (Fig.…”

“…8(b)), the electrons from the valence band are excited to the conduction band to create a hole and electron pairs upon irradiation of nanoparticles. 138 These electrons reduce O 2 to superoxide radical anions that can react with PS to trigger oxidative degradation. Conversely, the holes oxidize water to O 2 or hydroxyl radicals.…”

Analysis and removal of bisphenols in recycled plastics using polyethylene glycol

“…Innovative technologies and strategies are emerging to mitigate plastic consumption, foster reuse and recycling, and curb environmental dispersion. Initiatives such as eco-design and the circular economy advocate for resource prevention, reduction, repair, reuse, and recycling 2 – 4 . Efforts are underway to boost recycled plastics utilization, with a targeted 55% plastic recycling rate by 2030 5 .…”