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Molecular dynamics insights into polypropylene microplastics adsorption onto PDMS coated sponge
Summary
Researchers developed a sponge coated with a silicone-based material (PDMS) that can effectively capture polypropylene microplastics from water, maintaining a 90% removal rate even after 10 cycles of use. Using molecular simulations, they discovered that the microplastics flatten and spread across the sponge surface during adsorption, driven primarily by van der Waals forces between the plastic and silicone. This approach offers a promising, reusable tool for removing microplastics from contaminated water.
Microplastics (MPs) pose a significant threat to the environment and human health. This study investigates the adsorption behavior of polypropylene (PP) MPs on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface using experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We prepared a PDMS coated sponge with excellent adsorption capacity of PP, which still achieved a removal rate of 90.3 % after 10 cycles of use. MD simulations revealed that PP underwent significant conformational changes during adsorption, transitioning from a three-dimensional ellipsoidal shape to a two-dimensional elliptical disk, with negligible influence from the PDMS surface hydration layer. The spontaneous adsorption process was primarily driven by van der Waals interaction between the surface of PDMS and PP, and the methyl groups of PDMS were the dominant adsorption sites for PP. These findings enriched the theory of PP adsorption based on MD simulation analysis and provided a promising adsorption material for MPs removal from aquatic environments.