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Enhancing the aging of polystyrene microplastics through a flow-through electrochemical membrane system: Mechanism of confinement effect
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Engineers developed a new electrochemical membrane system that can both filter out and break down polystyrene microplastics in water, using 3.7 times less energy than previous methods. The technology works by trapping microplastics against an electrode surface where free radicals attack and degrade the plastic, offering a more efficient approach to removing these persistent pollutants from water supplies.
Microplastics (MPs) are emerging pollutants in aquatic environments that pose serious health risks, and traditional wastewater treatments are ineffective at removing them. In this study, a flow-through electrochemical membrane (F-T) system was developed to simultaneously separate and age polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) in water. Under membrane pressure, PS-MPs were tightly pressed onto the surface of membrane electrode, forming a confinement space. The confinement effect overcomes the short lifetime of free radicals and accelerates the aging process of PS-MPs. This study identified the optimal conditions for aging PS-MPs in the F-T system, characterized the material properties before and after aging, and analyzed the degradation intermediates. After 8 h of treatment, the oxygen-to-carbon ratio (O/C) of the PS-MPs following the F-T system was 2.00 times greater than that following the traditional flow-by (F-B) system. In addition, the unit energy consumption (kW·h/g) for the aging of PS-MPs in the F-T system was 645.19 kW·h/g, which was 3.70 times lower than the F-B system. Free radicals, especially O and •OH, played a major role in PS-MPs aging. Free radicals attack the main chain of PS-MPs, leading to subsequent chain breakage, hydrogen abstraction, and rearrangement reactions. After aging in the F-T system, the crystallinity, molecular weight, and zeta potential of the PS-MPs significantly decreased. In addition, carbon-centered environmental persistent free radicals formed on the surface of the PS-MPs. This study presents an energy-efficient method for the remediation of MPs in water and suggests that the aging efficiency can be increased through confinement.
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