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Facile synthesis of carbon-doped ZnO with oxygen-vacancy and its photocatalytic degradation performance for PS microplastics.
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Scientists engineered a modified zinc oxide material that uses light to break down polystyrene microplastics, the tiny plastic bits found in food, water, and even our bodies, about 1.5 times faster than standard versions. While this is a lab based cleanup tool rather than a human health treatment, it points toward better ways to remove harmful microplastics from our environment before we're exposed to them.
To address the poor photocatalytic activity of ZnO caused by rapid charge carrier recombination, we synthesized carbon-doped porous ZnO with oxygen-vacancy via a one-step pyrolysis of zinc oxalate precursor. EPR confirmed the presence of oxygen vacancies (g = 2.0031), while SEM and BET revealed a loose porous network (specific surface area 37.8 m/g) formed by in-situ CO release. Photochemical tests showed that the synergy between carbon doping and oxygen vacancies effectively suppresses electron-hole recombination and narrows the bandgap to 3.17 eV. In the photocatalytic degradation of 3-μm PS microplastics, 400-2.5 achieved a mass loss of 63.9% within 6 h, with a normalized degradation capacity of 0.213 mg mg·h-approximately 1.5 times that of commercial ZnO. Radical trapping experiments identified superoxide radicals as the dominant active species (activity decreased from 63.7% to 44.3% upon PBQ addition), with holes and •OH playing auxiliary roles. HRGC-MS and UPLC-MS analysis of the filtrate unambiguously detected nine key intermediates, including benzene, benzoic acid, acetophenone, styrene, p-xylene, ethylbenzene, and 2,2'-biphenyldicarboxylic acid. Based on these findings, three parallel degradation pathways-main-chain scission, side-chain oxidation, and benzene ring hydroxylation/ring-opening-are proposed, demonstrating that the PS backbone is progressively attacked by reactive species and ultimately mineralized to CO and HO.
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