Effect of advanced oxidation process for chemical structure changes of polyethylene microplastics

Microplastic pollution in the aquatic systems is attracting continued concern globally. Microplastics can be needed a long degradation time due to the structural complexity and hydrophobicity. The advanced oxidation process (AOPs) can generate reactive oxygen such as hydroxyl (OH) radicals. These radicals initiate the plastic degradation process by changes in chemical structure with formed functional groups such as hydroxyl (O-H) and carbonyl (C=O) groups and modified C-H groups. The changes in chemical structure are the alternative to accelerate the degradation of microplastics. In this paper, polyethylene (PE) microplastics were modified the chemical structure by AOPs using the combination of ozonation and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The effect of the AOPs in samples of PE microplastics was characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis. The results show increasing the intensity of the O-H and C=O bands and decreasing the intensity of C-H groups. The highest carbonyl index (CI) value was 1.33 at pH 12 with a flow rate of 3 L/min using the combination of ozonation and hydrogen peroxide method. Copyright (C)& nbsp;2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Microplastic pollution in aquatic systems is a global concern. AOPs, such as ozonation and hydrogen peroxide, can generate reactive oxygen species and modify the chemical structure of microplastics, thus accelerating their degradation. This study focused on modifying the chemical structure of polyethylene microplastics using AOPs and analyzed the effects using FTIR analysis.