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Low environmental impact remediation of microplastics: Visible-light photocatalytic degradation of PET microplastics using bio-inspired C,N-TiO2/SiO2 photocatalysts
Summary
Researchers developed a new light-powered cleaning method using modified titanium dioxide to break down PET microplastics in water. The process works under visible light at room temperature, making it more practical and environmentally friendly than other cleanup approaches. This matters because PET is one of the most common plastics found polluting waterways.
Microplastics (MPs) are plastic particles with sizes between 1 μm and 5 mm with a ubiquitous presence in aquatic ecosystems. MPs harm marine life and can cause severe health problems for humans. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) that involve the in-situ generation of highly oxidant hydroxyl radicals can be an alternative to fight MPs pollution. Of all the AOPs, photocatalysis has been proven a clean technology to overcome microplastic pollution. This work proposes novel C,N-TiO/SiO photocatalysts with proper visible-active properties to degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) MPs. Photocatalysis was performed in an aqueous medium and at room temperature, evaluating the influence of two pH values (pH 6 and 8). The results demonstrated that the degradation of the PET MPs by C,N-TiO/SiO semiconductors is possible, achieving mass losses between 9.35 and 16.22 %.