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Synergistic effects of Fe-based nanomaterial catalyst on humic substances formation and microplastics mitigation during sewage sludge composting

Bioresource Technology 2024 21 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 55 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Yuhuan Liu, Pengjiao Tian, Pengjiao Tian, Xiqing Wang Jiayi Xu, Yuhuan Liu, Xiaolu Li, Wuyi Zhou, Pengjiao Tian, Pengjiao Tian, Xian Cui, Pengjiao Tian, Pengjiao Tian, Xian Cui, Wuyi Zhou, Yuhuan Liu, Yuhuan Liu, Xian Cui, Xiaolu Li, Pengjiao Tian, Haizhong Yu, Haizhong Yu, Pengjiao Tian, Xiqing Wang Xian Cui, Haizhong Yu, Haizhong Yu, Haizhong Yu, Haizhong Yu, Yuhuan Liu, Xiqing Wang Xian Cui, Xiqing Wang

Summary

Researchers developed a novel iron-based nanomaterial catalyst and applied it during sewage sludge composting to enhance the formation of beneficial humic substances while reducing microplastic contamination. The catalyst significantly increased humic acid content and accelerated the breakdown of microplastics in the compost. The findings suggest that iron-based nanomaterials could serve a dual purpose in improving compost quality while helping address microplastic pollution in organic waste.

In this study, a novel Fe-based nanomaterial catalyst (Fe/FeS) was synthesized via a self-heating process and employed to explore its impact on the formation of humic substances and the mitigation of microplastics. The results reveal that Fe/FeS exhibited a significant increase in humic acid content (71.01 mg kg). Similarly, the formation of humic substances resulted in a higher humification index (4.91). Moreover, the addition of Fe/FeS accelerated the degradation of microplastics (MPs), resulting in a lower concentration of MPs (9487 particles/kg) compared to the control experiments (22792 particles/kg). Fe/FeS significantly increased the abundance of medium-sized MPs (50-200 μm) and reduced the abundance of small-sized (10-50 μm) and large-sized MPs (>1000 μm). These results can be attributed to the Fe/FeS regulating the ▪OH production and specific microorganisms to promote humic substance formation and the degradation of MPs. This study proposes a feasible strategy to improve composting characteristics and reduce contaminants.

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