(227f) Systematic Study of the Rejection and Fouling Behavior of Different Microplastics in the Presence of Natural Organic Matters.

Micro & nano plastics (MNPs) (such as polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene) are an emerging class of pollutants of this era. MNPs is generated from the abrasion of bigger particles or produced commercially and enter the human body through food and water. Microplastics are cytotoxic and cause unnatural cell death, mutations, weak immune response, cancer, etc. Therefore, it is crucial to remove microplastics from waste/drinking water. MNPs can be removed from water through different strategies such as adsorption, coagulation, and flocculation. However, they lack efficient removal. The membrane-based filtration is a promising technology for the removal of NMPs in the water treatment. However, the rejection and fouling behavior of microplastic is not comprehensively studied especially in the presence of other water components. In this study, we systematically investigate the removal efficiency and fouling behavior of polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene microplastic particles using the ultrafiltration membranes. In addition, the rejection and fouling behavior of the mentioned NMPs will be evaluated in the presence of humic acid (as the model foulant of natural organic matter). The commercial Polyethersulfone membranes and UF membranes fabricated using the phase inversion method were used. We employed the crossflow filtration to determine the flux, fouling and rejection behavior of mentioned membranes. The UV-VIS spectroscopy method and fluorescence spectroscopy method was employed for determining the percentage removal of microplastics. The result shows that the polypropylene (20 ppm) solution did not result in fouling after five hours of filtration with 25 LMH/Bar permeance.