1. Aging of polylactic acid microplastics during hydrothermal treatment of sewage sludge and its effects on heavy metals adsorption
- Author
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Yang Yu, Yindi Ding, Cailing Zhou, and Shifu Ge
- Subjects
Sewage ,Lead ,Microplastics ,Metals, Heavy ,Polyesters ,Adsorption ,Biochemistry ,Plastics ,Water Pollutants, Chemical ,General Environmental Science - Abstract
Microplastics' (MPs) aging process and environmental behavior have attracted extensive attention due to the potential long-term ecological impact. MPs enriched in sludge may accelerate aging during sludge treatment and the affecting environmental behavior, i.e., adsorption performance for pollutants. However, the related studies have not been well researched, especially for the biodegradable MPs. This study revealed the influences of hydrothermal treatment on the characteristics of polylactic acid microplastics (PLA-MPs) and the consequences on heavy metals adsorption. The changes in PLA-MPs' physiochemical properties were characterized and compared. PLA-MPs' surface became irregular, and the oxygen-containing functional groups increased through FTIR and XPS analysis. Meanwhile, the molecular weight and crystallinity of PLA-MPs decreased significantly with the rising in hydrothermal temperature. Accordingly, the adsorption capacity of PLA-MPs for Pb
- Published
- 2022