Zhang Yuxuan, Hunter Jameson R, Ullah Ahamed, Shao Qing, Shi Jian
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA.
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA.
J Hazard Mater. 2024 Apr 5;467:133695. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133695. Epub 2024 Feb 3.
As a growing concern in aqueous systems, micro- and nano-plastics, especially nanoplastics (NPs), have been widely detected in the environment and organisms, posing a potential threat to ecosystems and human health. Hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents (HDESs) have emerged as environmentally friendly solvents that have shown promise for extracting pollutants from water, either for detection or removal purposes. Herein, we investigated the extraction of polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) NPs from aqueous solution using lignin based HDESs as sustainable solvents. Rapid extraction of both PET and PS NPs was observed with the high extraction efficiency achieved (> 95%). The extraction capacities for PET and PS could reach up to 525.877 mg/mL and 183.520 mg/mL, respectively, by the Thymol-2,6-dimethoxyphenol 1:2 HDES. Moreover, the extraction mechanism was studied using various techniques including Fourier-transform infrared analysis, contact angle measurements, molecular dynamics simulation, kinetics, and isotherm studies. This work lays a foundational basis for the future development of innovative HDES-based technologies in the detection and remediation of NPs as part of the grand challenge of plastic pollution.
作为水系统中日益受到关注的问题，微塑料和纳米塑料，尤其是纳米塑料（NPs），已在环境和生物体中被广泛检测到，对生态系统和人类健康构成潜在威胁。疏水性深共熔溶剂（HDESs）已成为环境友好型溶剂，在从水中提取污染物用于检测或去除方面显示出前景。在此，我们研究了使用基于木质素的HDESs作为可持续溶剂从水溶液中提取聚苯乙烯（PS）和聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）纳米塑料的方法。观察到PET和PS纳米塑料均能快速被提取，提取效率很高（>95%）。通过百里香酚 - 2,6 - 二甲氧基苯酚1:2的HDES，PET和PS的提取容量分别可达525.877 mg/mL和183.520 mg/mL。此外，利用傅里叶变换红外分析、接触角测量、分子动力学模拟、动力学和等温线研究等多种技术对提取机制进行了研究。这项工作为基于HDES的创新技术在纳米塑料检测和修复方面的未来发展奠定了基础，这是塑料污染这一重大挑战的一部分。
