Efficient Treatment of Microplastics in Water through Electrocoagulation: An Eco-Friendly Process that Produces Valuable Materials from Treated Waste

초록

Electrocoagulation is a flexible, easy-to-use, and environmentally friendly technology with great potential for treating pollutants in wastewater. In this study, we investigated eco-friendly methods for separating, treating, and reusing microplastics through electrocoagulation. Our study found that by creating Fe3O4 on the surface of polyethylene particles, we could produce flocs that could be easily separated using a magnetic force with high efficiency. In treating waste flocs, the removal of Fe3O4 was necessary to generate free radicals that initiates the photolysis of polyethylene. Through electrodeposition, the extracted Fe3O4 could be reused to create iron-oxalate compounds with potential applications in energy devices. Furthermore, we discovered that heating the Fe3O4-polyethylene flocs in an argon atmosphere produced Fe3O4 core-carbon shell nanoparticles that performed exceptionally well as anodes in lithium-ion batteries, demonstrating a capacity of 1,123 mAh g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1 after 600 cycles with the negative fading phenomenon. This study provides valuable insights into sustainable processes for addressing environmental concerns such as microplastics and developing energy materials.