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Comparison of chlorination resistance of biodegradable microplastics and conventional microplastics during the disinfection process in water treatments

The Science of The Total Environment 2023 17 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 45 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Xiaohan Zhang, Xiaohan Zhang, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Xiangyu Feng, Xiangyu Feng, Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Yongzheng Ma, Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Xiaohan Zhang, Ying Zhang Yongzheng Ma, Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Zhiguang Niu, Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang Yongzheng Ma, Zhiguang Niu, Yongzheng Ma, Zhiguang Niu, Ying Zhang Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Zhiguang Niu, Zhiguang Niu, Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang Ying Zhang Yongzheng Ma, Ying Zhang

Summary

This study compared the chlorination resistance of biodegradable microplastics (PLA, PHA) and conventional microplastics (PE, PP, PS) at water-treatment-relevant chlorine concentrations, finding that biodegradable plastics are more susceptible to chlorination-induced structural changes.

Polymers

PE PLA PS

Nowadays, microplastics (MPs) widely exist in the environment, and water treatment plants are important sources of MPs. Chlorine is widely used in the disinfection process in water treatment plants and has strong oxidation, however, the chemical and physical properties changes of MPs during chlorination were unclear. Thus, in this study, based on the actual used chlorine concentrations, different chlorination conditions were simulated to study the variation of MPs after chlorination. Meanwhile, the produced disinfection by-products were monitored. The results showed that under high chlorination concentration conditions, functional groups of polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and polylactic acid (PLA) changed, while no peak shift or change of poly (butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) could be detected. Moreover, after chlorination, partial yellowing and cracks appeared on PS, PLA, and PBAT, while PE remained white and showed little morphological changes. Besides, chlorination led to the narrowing of the cold crystallization peak and melting peak of PLA, while chlorination had little influence on the crystal structure of PE and PBAT. Furthermore, the reaction between PLA and chlorine mostly produced more trichloromethane than other types of MPs. Consequently, when chlorine concentrations were in the range of 2.5 to 5000 mg/L, the chlorination resistance was PBAT/PE > PLA > PS. Specifically, PBAT had the strongest chlorination resistance in terms of chemical properties, while PE had the strongest chlorination resistance in terms of physical properties. Therefore, the degradability of biodegradable MPs is not higher than that of conventional MPs in all cases. Moreover, it should be noted that most changes occurred only in high chlorine concentrations. Thus, neither conventional MPs nor biodegradable MPs can be completely degraded during the chlorination process in water treatments.

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