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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Joshua Saczek, Dr Vladimir ZivkovicORCiD, Professor Mohamed MamloukORCiD, Dr Shengkai Wang, Dr Stevin PramanaORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The removal of microplastics from water using oil has shown early promise, however, incorporation of this technique into a feasible in-situ method has yet to be developed. Here, a simple yet effective method of microplastic capture from water using vegetable oil with bubbles is demonstrated to achieve high removal efficiencies, > 98 %. Comparisons have been made with other methods of agitation, showing higher removal efficiencies when bubbles were used. Due to the low agitation provided by the bubbles the oil layer remains unbroken, meaning no oil is released into the bulk water phase, avoiding secondary contamination. Unlike membrane filtration, another effective removal method, where polymer-based membranes can break down due to chemical backwashing and ageing. It was demonstrated that the variation in microplastic size within the micron range (50 – 170 μm) had little impact on the removal efficiency, however, for larger millimeter sized microplastics (500 – 5000 μm), 100% removal was achieved. Similarly, capture of microfibers resulted in high removal, >99 %. Other factors such as the oil volume and water salinity were also investigated and discussed. As such, this method could be introduced into multiple types of setting as a passive and continuous method of microplastic capture.
Author(s): Saczek J, Yao X, Zivkovic V, Mamlouk M, Wang S, Pramana SS
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Engineering
Year: 2024
Volume: 41
Pages: 71-83
Print publication date: 01/10/2024
Online publication date: 04/04/2024
Acceptance date: 17/01/2023
Date deposited: 17/01/2023
ISSN (print): 2096-0026
ISSN (electronic): 2095-8099
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2023.01.021
DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2023.01.021
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