Upcycling Plastic Waste to Activated Carbon for Waste Water Treatment Applications
Loading...
Date
2024-04-09
Authors
Blanchard, Rachel Jessica
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
Plastic waste disposal continues to be a widespread issue, as plastic products are discarded at high rates and do not biodegrade in the environment. Although a portion of this waste is recycled, the limitations of conventional recycling methods have prompted the need to investigate alternative disposal methods. This thesis highlights the upcycling plastic waste through carbonization and activation to produce adsorbent material for wastewater treatment applications. This conversion method involves heat treatment at high temperature under an inert atmosphere with the addition of an activating agent to produce activated carbon (AC), a carbonaceous material of high surface area. This process can yield high value material with excellent adsorption properties and can be applied to a variety of plastics including thermosets, which are notoriously difficult to recycle. The first section of this thesis focused on the synthesis of AC from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottle waste and its application as an adsorbent for dye contaminated water. A product of high surface area (1124 m²/g) was produced through KOH chemical activation and exhibited a high adsorption capacity (335 mg/g) for cationic methylene blue (MB) dye. The adsorption capabilities were investigated through detailed analysis of the MB adsorption mechanism in addition to the effects of solution pH and dye charge characteristic. The second section of this thesis focused on the synthesis of AC from epoxy thermoset plastic for the adsorption of nano-plastic pollution. A high surface area AC (1705 m²/g) was obtained through KOH activation after investigation of other potassium-based activators. It was found to adsorb PET nano-plastics through multilayer physical adsorption with a substantial monolayer capacity of 325 mg/g and maximum recovery of 94%. These studies confirmed the successful conversion of a thermoplastic and thermoset into AC material with high potential for adsorption of aqueous pollutants.
Description
Keywords
activated carbon, plastic waste, carbonization, activation, adsorption