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UV and chemical aging alter the adsorption behavior of microplastics for tetracycline
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Researchers found that UV and chemical aging significantly increased microplastics' capacity to adsorb tetracycline, with biodegradable PBAT showing more dramatic changes in surface properties and adsorption behavior compared to conventional plastics like polystyrene and polyethylene.
This study evaluates the "vector" effects of different microplastics (MPs) on coexisting pollutants. The adsorption of tetracycline was studied on biodegradable plastics poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and non-biodegradable plastics polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene (PE) after UV aging and chemical aging. The physicochemical properties of PBAT changed more obviously after UV radiation and chemical aging comparing to PS, PP and PE. Pores and cracks appear on the surface of aged PBAT. The crystallinity increased from 29.2% to 52.62%. In adsorption experiments, pristine and aged PBAT had strong vector effects on the adsorption of tetracycline than PS, PP and PE. The adsorption capacity of tetracycline on PBAT was increased from 0.7980 mg g to 1.2669 mg g after chemical aging. The adsorption mechanism indicated that electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonds contribute to the adsorption process. In addition, for the adsorption of tetracycline on PS, π-π interaction was the main cause, and the adsorption mechanism was not considerably changed by aging. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that biodegradable plastics have substantial vector effect on coexisting pollutants at the end of their life cycle, this contributes to assessment of the risk from microplastic pollution.
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Researchers studied how sequential UV aging of polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyethylene microplastics, which mimics natural weathering, affects their ability to adsorb the antibiotic tetracycline under different water chemistry conditions. They found that aged microplastics adsorbed significantly more tetracycline than pristine particles, with the effect varying by water type and plastic polymer. The study suggests that as microplastics weather in the environment, they may become increasingly effective at carrying antibiotic contaminants.
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