Adsorption and photochemical capacity on 17α-ethinylestradiol by char produced in the thermo treatment process of plastic waste

Chaochao Lai; Huan He; Wenxiao Xie; Sihan Fan; Huang Huang; Yan Wang; Bin Huang; Xuejun Pan

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127066

Adsorption and photochemical capacity on 17α-ethinylestradiol by char produced in the thermo treatment process of plastic waste

J Hazard Mater. 2022 Feb 5;423(Pt A):127066. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127066. Epub 2021 Sep 7.

Authors

Chaochao Lai¹, Huan He², Wenxiao Xie¹, Sihan Fan¹, Huang Huang³, Yan Wang⁴, Bin Huang⁵, Xuejun Pan⁶

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China.
² Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China. Electronic address: huanhe08@kust.edu.cn.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Ecological Environment Evolution and Pollution Control in Mountainous and Rural Areas of Yunnan Province, Kunming 650000, China.
⁵ Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control in Soils, Kunming 650500, China. Electronic address: huangbin@kust.edu.cn.
⁶ Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control in Soils, Kunming 650500, China.

PMID: 34523505
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127066

Abstract

Plastic is a major component of solid waste. It is often thermally treated, generating microplastics and plastic-char which end up as landfill. This study investigated the potential of plastic-char for treating persistent organic pollutants of aqueous media using 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) as a target contaminant. The adsorption and photodegradation capacity of plastic-char were investigated, and the adsorption isotherms revealed that EE2 adsorption on char is heterogeneous and multilayered. The presence of Fe was found to greatly enhance EE2 adsorption rate and capacity as well as photochemical degradation ability of plastic-char. Quenching experiments proved that electron transfer between triplet states of plastic-char and Fe(III) and the production of H₂O₂ were the rate-limited steps in the generation of reactive species. Hydroxyl radical and holes were found to be the predominant reactive species contributing to the EE2 photodegradation. This study not only elucidated the possible environmental behavior of plastic-char discharged as bottom ash in the natural transformation of persistent organic pollutants, but also suggested that water treatment may offer a use for some of the enormous volume of plastic waste now being generated worldwide.

Keywords: Adsorption; Organic pollutant; Photodegradation; Plastic-char; Thermo treatment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Ethinyl Estradiol*
Ferric Compounds
Hydrogen Peroxide
Plastics
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Ferric Compounds
Plastics
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Ethinyl Estradiol
Hydrogen Peroxide