We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Wet oxidation technology can significantly reduce both microplastics and nanoplastics
Summary
Researchers evaluated wet oxidation technology at an industrial scale for its ability to reduce micro- and nanoplastic contamination in organic waste processing. The study found that wet oxidation decreased the total mass concentration of microplastics and nanoplastics by 94.8% to 98.6%, completely removing fibers and certain polymer types while still enabling recovery of organic resources.
For the resource recovery of biomass waste, it is a challenge to simultaneously remove micro-/nano-plastics pollution but preserve organic resources. Wet oxidation is a promising technology for valorization of organic wastes through thermal hydrolysis and oxidation. This might in turn result in the degradation of microplastics in the presence of oxygen and high temperatures. Based on this hypothesis, this study quantified both microplastics and nanoplastics in an industrial-scale wet oxidation reactor from a full-size coverage perspective. Wet oxidation significantly reduced the size and mass of individual microplastics, and decreased total mass concentration of microplastics and nanoplastics by 94.8 % to 98.6 %. This technology also reduced the micro- and nanoplastic shapes and polymer types, resulting in a complete removal of fibers, clusters, polypropylene (PP) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The present study confirms that wet oxidation technology is effective in removing microplastics and nanoplastics while recovering organic waste.