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Engineered MWCNT@Fe-ZIF 67 nanocomposite for concurrent photocatalytic degradation of bisphenol S and heteroaggregation-driven nanoplastics removal from water
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Scientists have developed a new material that can tackle two water pollution problems at once: it breaks down Bisphenol S (a chemical used in plastics that's linked to hormone disruption) and grabs onto tiny plastic particles called nanoplastics, causing them to clump together and drop out of water. In lab tests, this material eliminated over 99% of both pollutants in a matter of hours or even minutes, offering a promising new approach for cleaning up the kind of combined plastic-related contamination increasingly found in our water supplies.
The coexistence of emerging dissolved organic contaminants and nanoplastics in aquatic systems presents a major challenge for conventional water treatment technologies, which are typically optimized for either molecular degradation or particulate removal. Herein, we report the strategic fabrication of a magnetic MWCNT@Fe-ZIF 67 nanoheterostructure for the photocatalytic degradation of Bisphenol S (BPS) and heteroaggregation-driven nanoplastics removal from water. The integration of Fe-modified ZIF 67 with functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) generates a defect-engineered heterostructure containing mixed-valent cobalt-iron oxide domains, which enhance visible-light absorption, interfacial charge transfer, and surface redox activity. Spectroscopic and electrochemical investigations revealed improved charge separation and prolonged charge-carrier utilization within the composite heterointerfaces. Under visible-light irradiation, the material achieved rapid photocatalytic degradation of BPS (99.82% within 2 h) through predominantly hole-mediated oxidation pathways. The chemically and structurally heterogeneous composite surface also promoted rapid heteroaggregation and removal of carboxylate-modified polystyrene nanoplastics (> 99% within 15 min). Individual studies revealed that the photocatalytic degradation of BPS was influenced by solution chemistry, including pH, ionic strength, and complex water matrices, while heteroaggregation-driven nanoplastics removal remained highly efficient under varied aqueous conditions. By integrating photocatalytic degradation and heteroaggregation-driven colloidal destabilization within a single interface-engineered material platform, this work establishes a promising strategy for the treatment of chemically diverse emerging contaminants in realistic aqueous environments.
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