Magalhães Solange, Paciência Daniel, Rodrigues João M M, Lindman Björn, Alves Luís, Medronho Bruno, Rasteiro Maria da Graça
University of Coimbra, CERES, Department of Chemical Engineering, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal.
CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Polymers (Basel). 2024 Oct 3;16(19):2803. doi: 10.3390/polym16192803.
The rampant use of plastics, with the potential to degrade into insidious microplastics (MPs), poses a significant threat by contaminating aquatic environments. In the present study, we delved into the analysis of effluents from textile industries, a recognized major source of MPs contamination. Data were further discussed and compared with a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. All effluent samples were collected at the final stage of treatment in their respective WWTP. Laser diffraction spectroscopy was used to evaluate MP dimensions, while optical and fluorescence microscopies were used for morphology analysis and the identification of predominant plastic types, respectively. Electrophoresis was employed to unravel the prevalence of negative surface charge on these plastic microparticles. The analysis revealed that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyamide were the dominant compounds in textile effluents, with PET being predominant in municipal WWTP effluents. Surprisingly, despite the municipal WWTP exhibiting higher efficiency in MP removal (ca. 71% compared to ca. 55% in textile industries), it contributed more to overall pollution. A novel bio-based flocculant, a cationic cellulose derivative derived from wood wastes, was developed as a proof-of-concept for MP flocculation. The novel derivatives were found to efficiently flocculate PET MPs, thus allowing their facile removal from aqueous media, and reducing the threat of MP contamination from effluents discharged from WWTPs.
塑料的大量使用有可能降解为有害的微塑料（MPs），通过污染水生环境构成重大威胁。在本研究中，我们深入分析了纺织工业废水，这是一个公认的微塑料污染主要来源。进一步讨论了数据，并与城市污水处理厂（WWTP）的出水进行了比较。所有出水样本均在各自污水处理厂的处理末期采集。激光衍射光谱用于评估微塑料尺寸，而光学显微镜和荧光显微镜分别用于形态分析和主要塑料类型的鉴定。采用电泳来揭示这些塑料微粒表面负电荷的普遍情况。分析表明，聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）和聚酰胺是纺织废水中的主要化合物，PET在城市污水处理厂出水中占主导地位。令人惊讶的是，尽管城市污水处理厂在去除微塑料方面效率更高（约71%，而纺织工业约为55%），但它对总体污染的贡献更大。一种新型生物基絮凝剂，一种从木材废料中提取的阳离子纤维素衍生物，被开发出来作为微塑料絮凝的概念验证。发现这种新型衍生物能有效地絮凝PET微塑料，从而使其能从水介质中轻松去除，并降低污水处理厂排放废水中微塑料污染的威胁。
