Extraction of microplastics from aquatic environments using reversed-phase modified magnetic carbons
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17308/sorpchrom.2025.25/13574Keywords:
microplastics, magnetic carbons, extraction, sorption, river waterAbstract
Abstract. A method for extracting microplastics of various natures (high and low density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, ABS plastic, polyurethane and polyamide fibers) from aquatic media is proposed. Unmodified magnetic carbon from rice husk (Fe3O4@C) and magnetic carbons modified with reversed phases C8 (Fe3O4@C-C8) and C18 (Fe3O4@C-C18) were used as sorbents.
When using Fe3O4@C, 80.5 to 95.5% of microplastics are extracted, and the sorption capacity is 128-200 mg/g. After modification of Fe3O4@C with reversed-phase C8, the sorption efficiency increases significantly. During Fe3O4@C-C8 sorption, 94.4-99.7% of microplastics are extracted from aqueous solutions, and the sorption capacity is 184-246 mg/g. Further hydrophobization of the Fe3O4@C sorbent with reversed-phase C18 leads to an increase in the degree of extraction of polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and polyethylene up to 99.8-99.9% and an increase in sorption capacity (260-306 mg/g). The extraction efficiency of polycarbonate, polyurethane, polyamide, and polyethylene terephthalate decreases to 91.2-95.2%. The sorption isotherms of microplastics during extraction in the studied sorption systems are most adequately described by the Langmuir equation.
For the desorption of microplastics, a thermal method (calcination of the sorbent at 700 ºC) and centrifugation at 4000 rpm have been proposed. Regardless of the nature of the microplastic, both methods allow for the almost complete desorption of microparticles. The number of sorption-desorption cycles during centrifugation significantly depends on the degree of water pollution. In the studied systems, the degree of extraction of microplastics from river water is reduced by 5-7% compared to sorption from distilled water, which is due to the competitive sorption of impurities.
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