Efficient removal of nanoplastics from industrial wastewater through synergetic electrophoretic deposition and particle-stabilized foam formation

Microplastic particles have been discovered in virtually all ecosystems worldwide, yet they may only represent the surface of a much larger issue. Nanoplastics, with dimensions well below 1 µm, pose an even greater environmental concern. Due to their size, they can infiltrate and disrupt individual...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 5437 - 13
Main Authors:	Abdeljaoued, Amna, Ruiz, Beatriz López, Tecle, Yikalo-Eyob, Langner, Marie, Bonakdar, Natalie, Bleyer, Gudrun, Stenner, Patrik, Vogel, Nicolas
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 27-06-2024 Nature Publishing Group Nature Portfolio
Subjects:	639/166/898 704/172/4081 Cell size Colloiding Dispersions Electrodes Electrolysis Electrolytic cells Electrophoretic deposition Environmental perception Fabrication Humanities and Social Sciences Industrial wastes Industrial wastewater Microplastics multidisciplinary Plastic debris Plastic pollution Polymethyl methacrylate Polymethylmethacrylate Science Science (multidisciplinary) Separation Surface properties Wastewater
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Summary:	Microplastic particles have been discovered in virtually all ecosystems worldwide, yet they may only represent the surface of a much larger issue. Nanoplastics, with dimensions well below 1 µm, pose an even greater environmental concern. Due to their size, they can infiltrate and disrupt individual cells within organisms, potentially exacerbating ecological impacts. Moreover, their minute dimensions present several hurdles for removal, setting them apart from microplastics. Here, we describe a process to remove colloidally stable nanoplastics from wastewater, which synergistically combines electrophoretic deposition and the formation of particle-stabilized foam. This approach capitalizes on localized changes in particle hydrophilicity induced by pH fluctuations resulting from water electrolysis at the electrode surface. By leveraging these pH shifts to enhance particle attachment to nascent bubbles proximal to the electrode, separation of colloidal particles from aqueous dispersions is achieved. Using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) colloidal particles as a model, we gain insights into the separation mechanisms, which are subsequently applied to alternative model systems with varying surface properties and materials, as well as to real-world industrial wastewaters from dispersion paints and PMMA fabrication processes. Our investigations demonstrate removal efficiencies surpassing 90%. Nanoplastics represent a significant environmental challenge due to their minute size, which complicates removal efforts. Here, the authors present a method to effectively extract colloidally stable nanoplastic particles from industrial wastewater.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2041-1723 2041-1723
DOI:	10.1038/s41467-024-48142-2