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Kinetics and Size Effects on Adsorption of Cu(II), Cr(III), and Pb(II) Onto Polyethylene, Polypropylene, and Polyethylene Terephthalate Microplastic Particles
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Researchers investigated how copper, chromium, and lead ions adsorb onto polyethylene, polypropylene, and PET microplastic particles of different sizes. The study found that smaller microplastic particles had greater adsorption capacity for heavy metals, with lead showing the highest adsorption levels, particularly on PET particles, suggesting increased environmental risk when tiny microplastics and heavy metals coexist.
Due to its small size, large specific surface area and hydrophobicity, microplastics, and the adsorbed contaminants may together cause potential negative effects on ecosystems and human beings. In this study, kinetics and size effects on adsorption of Cu(II), Cr(III), and Pb(II) onto PE, PP and PET microplastic particles were explored. Results indicated that the PE and PET microplastics have the higher adsorption capacity for Cu(II), Cr(III), and Pb(II) than that for PP microplastic. The adsorption capacity was affected by microplastic types and metal species. Among the three metals, Pb(II) had the largest adsorption amount on microplastic particles, especially on PET particles. Moreover, the adsorption capacities of microplastics increase with the decrease of particle size. The metal adsorption capacity of <0.9 mm microplastics is greater than that of 0.9–2 mm and 2–5 mm microplastics. The size effect on metal adsorption was largest for PE microplastic. More attention should be paid in case of the coexistence of heavy metals and tiny PE and PET microplastics in the environment.
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