Recent Study in Engineering Application of Microplastics and Nano Plastics
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 August 2024 | Viewed by 21115
Special Issue Editors
Interests: material characterization; ultrasonic wave propagation; polymer rheology; curing kinetics of thermosetting matrices; polymer matrix composites; polymer composite processing and joining; heat transfer modelling; polymer based nanocomposites; hybrid welding of dissimilar materials; micro and nanoplastics; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The impressive field of micro/nano particles based on synthetic and natural polymers are finding increasing applications in several fields, thanks to innovative technological solutions and the establishing of a circular economy model. However, in addition to multiple benefits for society, micro/nano particles are also responsible of water, air and soil pollution together with secondary microplastics (MPs) and nano plastics (NPs), originated from plastic waste fragmenting and degradation. Although the huge interest, the chemical vector role of micro/nano plastics, their fate and the negative effects on the environment and human health is still under discussion and the investigations are still sparse. Moreover, the study of the MPs and NPs pollution relies on the availability of environmentally relevant engineered nano particles for toxicological, transport and adsorption studies in biological tissues; as well as the design of innovative engineered micro/nano particles to overcome that toxicological, pollution, and health issues.
The need to share the most recent efforts and encouraging the sustainable progress in that fields, motivated us to present this Special Issue focus on the recent study in engineering application of microplastics and nano plastics, also including their design, production and characterization, recycling (downcycling or upcycling), degradation in air, soil or aquatic environments, adsorption of toxic chemicals, the risk for the environment and human health and remediation strategies from polluted soil and water.
This Special Issue on the recent study in engineering application of microplastics and nano plastics is devoted to the dissemination of high-quality original research articles or comprehensive reviews on cutting-edge developments in this interdisciplinary field.
Original articles, communications and review papers will deal with the following themes, without being limited to them:
- micro/nano plastics from natural or synthetic polymers
- production routes for polymer micro/nano particles
- novel design of micro/nano particles to overcome toxicological, pollution, and health issues
- surface modification and encapsulation of active agents
- application of polymer micro/nano particles in agriculture, cosmetics, pharmacy and tissue engineering
- microplastics and nano plastics in the environment
- degradation studies of micro/nano plastics
- adsorption and release of toxic chemicals on micro/nano plastics
- recycling approaches of micro/nano plastics
- engineered micro/nano particles for toxicological, transport and adsorption studies
- remediation technologies to collect micro/nano plastics from the environment
Prof. Dr. Francesca Lionetto
Dr. Carlos Espinoza-González
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- microplastics
- nano plastics
- pollution
- degradation
- biopolymer
- toxicity
- adsorption
- recycling
- sustainability
- remediation
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Effect of Solar Photolysis, Photocatalysis and Gamma Irradiation on the Photo and Biodegradability of LDPE
Authors: Gonçalo A.O. Tiago; Lucas P. Marcelino; Susete Martins-Dias; Ana C. Marques
Affiliation: Center for Natural Resources and the Environment (CERENA), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal;
Center for Natural Resources and the Environment (CERENA), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal;
CERENA, Department of Biological Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal;
CERENA, Department of Chemical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
Abstract: This paper regards the effect of solar photolysis, photocatalysis and gamma irradiation pre-treatments on the (bio)degradability of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) to mitigate plastic waste impact on the environment. Photodegraded LDPE microplastic particles (powder) resulting from a solar irradiation process, in the presence and absence of TiO2 photocatalyst (Aeroxide P25), and from gamma irradiation process, were subjected to biodegradation assessment by quantification of O2 consumption in a static biological oxygen demand (BOD) system using compost as the matrix. Photodegradation of LDPE film was performed for comparison. The appearance of cracks and changes in roughness were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, sunlight increased the carbonyl index (CI) up to 0.40.
However, the deposition of TiO2 nanoparticles over the LDPE surface prevented the CI from rising, which is in line with the reduction of the O2 consumption rate in the BOD tests for solar photocatalysis irradiation pre-treatments. Gamma radiation on the LDPE powder samples resulted in greater CI values, which also increased with solar
radiation and photocatalysis, reaching 1.41, which was reduced by 40% in an aerobic biodegradation environment. Thus, biodegradation of LDPE mediated by solar and gamma irradiation is a promising facilitator of biodegradability, while photocatalysis requires understanding catalyst deposition phenomena.