(118c) Upcycling of Waste Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)-Based Materials to Electrospun Nanofibers for Water Treatment

In recent decades, the increased use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in industries and households has led to a surge in PVC waste pollution, which mandates developing solutions for the removal of waste PVC from the environment. We report upcycling, the conversion of waste material to a high-value-added product, of PVC-based products to electrospun fibers (membranes). Two common PVC items, waste PVC pipe and waste PVC pool floats, were chosen and upcycled into electrospun membranes for water treatment. The fabrication process and fiber characteristics, such as morphology, surface charge, and mechanical strength of upcycled fibers, were studied and compared with the same fibers fabricated using research-grade (RG) PVC (commercial PVC powder). In addition, the effect of additives such as calcium carbonate in PVC waste products on the physicochemical properties of upcycled fibers was evaluated. The results showed that upcycling of waste PVC to electrospun fibers is feasible since the upcycled fibers showed similar or superior properties compared to their equivalent fibers from RG-PVC. Finally, the performance of upcycled fibers on the removal of dyes from the water was evaluated. The upcycled fibers from waste PVC pipe and pool float outperformed the RG-PVC fibers in removing methylene blue (MB) from water by showing more than 97 % removal efficiency and adsorption capacity of 195 mg/g compared to RG-PVC with 89 % removal and 179 mg/g adsorption capacity. This study clearly shows the potential of upcycling PVC waste materials from landfill into membranes for enhanced water treatment as a promising solution to the current plastic and water pollution.