Synthesis and preliminary evaluation of Ag-TiO2/CNT hybrid nanocomposite for the degradation of polystyrene microplastics under solar irradiation

Currently, microplastics (MPs) are considered as emerging aqueous pollutants. However, existing methods for the separation and treatment of MPs from an aquatic environment are limited by their low efficiency. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are novel techniques that employ photo-induced electron...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science and pollution research international 2024-05, Vol.31 (22), p.32863-32874
Main Authors: Chinnam, Bhagyalakshmi, Dasagiri, Chandra Shekhar, Araga, Ramya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic environment
Aquatic Pollution
Aqueous solutions
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Carbon
Carbon nanotubes
Degradation
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecotoxicology
Efficiency
Environment
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Health
Environmental science
Ethanol
Gas chromatography
Graphene
Irradiation
Laboratories
Light
Mass spectroscopy
Microplastics
Microspheres
Mineralization
Nanocomposites
Nanotechnology
Nanotubes
Nitrates
Organic carbon
Oxidation
Photocatalysts
Plastic pollution
Pollutants
Polymerization
Polystyrene
Polystyrene resins
Research Article
Silver
Solar radiation
Titanium dioxide
Total organic carbon
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
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Summary:Currently, microplastics (MPs) are considered as emerging aqueous pollutants. However, existing methods for the separation and treatment of MPs from an aquatic environment are limited by their low efficiency. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are novel techniques that employ photo-induced electron/hole pairs to generate active radicals for MP mineralization. Thus, in this study, a photocatalyst, i.e., Ag + ion-doped TiO 2 , heterojunctioned with carbon nanotubes (CNT), was synthesized to study the degradation of typical MPs such as polystyrene (PS) under solar irradiation. Effectiveness of the prepared photocatalyst for the PS degradation was estimated through FESEM, FTIR, total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer, and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC–MS). Quantitatively, 31.7% degradation of PS microbeads was achieved within 48 h. Therefore, this study provides an efficient and cost-effective strategy for the degradation of MPs from the aqueous medium.
ISSN:1614-7499
0944-1344
1614-7499
DOI:10.1007/s11356-024-33438-z