2025 AIChE Annual Meeting

Potential for Micro and Nanoplastics Degradation Using Ultrasonication Treatment

Micro and nanoplastics are pollutants that interact with chemicals in the watershed that contribute to an increasingly low quality of water. Due to the lack of technologies available to remove these plastic contaminants from the planet, their concentration is becoming more alarming. More plastics are entering the water and bypassing water systems, returning to the ocean. The longer plastics remain in the environment, they begin to fragment and become more inconspicuous. Once microplastics become the size of nanoplastics, they have a greater surface area which allows for a greater likelihood of adherence to other chemicals and secretion of toxicants in the environment. Ultrasonication has previously been used to deal with soil contamination and has demonstrated potential in treating plastic contaminated samples. Previous research has demonstrated that ultrasound has the potential to degrade plastics through short durations of high frequency exposure.

Initial trials demonstrate that plastic samples subjected to ultrasound waves experienced a significant increase in temperature, as a result of the energy dispelled by the nanobubbles. The ultrasound waves generate vibrations that produce nanobubbles in the medium. Increased temperature can result in particles fusing and developing into agglomerations; the particle size will increase compared to the initial instead of decreasing as expected. The goal of the experiments is to use the optimal conditions determined for temperature control and surfactant use and conduct 10 minute intervals over a 24 hour span. Results will be analyzed for their particle size, topography, and chemical identity to better understand what processes the plastics undergo during ultrasonication.