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Generation of Eroded Nanoplastics from Real World Wastes and Their Capacity for Heavy Metal Adsorption
Summary
Researchers generated nanoplastics from real-world plastic waste including PET, polystyrene, and polypropylene, then tested their ability to absorb heavy metals. Polypropylene nanoplastics showed the highest absorption capacity for most metals tested, while lead was absorbed most rapidly across all plastic types, with over 99% uptake within five minutes. The findings suggest that nanoplastics in the environment may serve as carriers for toxic heavy metals, potentially increasing their bioavailability and environmental risk.
Our study investigates the generation of nanoplastics (NPs) from real-world plastic waste and their capacity to adsorb heavy metal (HM) ions. NPs, synthesized from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), and polypropylene (PP) using a milling method, were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confirming particle sizes below 200 nm. Manganese (Mn2+), cobalt (Co2+), zinc (Zn2+), cadmium (Cd2+), and lead (Pb2+) at concentrations ranging from 50.0 parts per billion (ppb) to 2.0 ppm (ppm) were exposed to the NPs. Residual HM concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). PP exhibited the highest adsorption capacities, with Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity (qm ) values of 90.91 μg per gram (μg/g) for Mn2+, 114.94 μg/g for Co2+, 101.01 μg/g for Zn2+, and 107.53 μg/g for Cd2+. Pb2+ showed rapid adsorption, with over 99% adsorption within 5 min, with a capacity of 396.1 μg/g on PP, 390.6 μg/g on PET, and 393.2 μg/g on PS. Adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo-second-order model, suggesting chemisorption, while Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms supported monolayer adsorption.