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Characterization of the microplastic photoaging under the action of typical salt ions of biological nitrogen removal processes
Summary
Photoaging — the breakdown of plastics under UV light — of PVC microplastics was significantly slowed in the presence of bicarbonate and nitrate ions commonly found in wastewater treatment systems. Paradoxically, aged PVC particles leached more contaminants and more readily adsorbed nitrogen compounds than fresh particles, with leaching increasing as particles got smaller. Understanding how wastewater chemistry alters the aging and behavior of microplastics is critical for improving the ability of treatment plants to remove and manage plastic particles before they are released into waterways.
Microplastics (MPs) are one of the most prevalent and diverse contaminants, and wastewater treatment plants are significant MP aggregators. Controlling the pollution caused by microplastics requires an understanding of how they age. The properties of the MPs photoaging process under the influence of salt ions typical of biological nitrogen elimination processes were disclosed in this work. The aging process of polyvinyl chloride microplastics (PVC-MPs) was greatly slowed down by greater HCO and NO concentrations, according to a comparison of the carbonyl index changes that occurred during photoaging. The carbonyl index had a negative correlation with the thermal stability of the photo-aged PVC-MPs, and aging accelerated the elimination of chlorine from the water. The samples were aged by UV radiation after 36 h at 40 °C, and the amount of chlorine eliminated was 10.13 times greater than that of the original MPs samples. It was discovered that the leachate concentration of aged MPs dramatically increased with decreasing particle size and was positively connected with the level of aging by comparing the concentration of leachate for two particle sizes (1 mm and 100 m). Photoaging caused MPs to become rougher, which in turn improved the NO-N, NH-N, and NO-N adsorption by PVC-MPs.