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Adsorption-desorption behavior of methylene blue onto aged polyethylene microplastics in aqueous environments
Huimin You1, Baoquan Huang1, Changlin Cao1
1College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fujian Key Laboratory of Pollution Control & Resource Reuse, Fuzhou 350007, China; Engineering Research Center of Polymer Green Recycling of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China.
Abstract:
In this study, polyethylene microplastics were artificially photoaged by xenon light. Experiments were then performed with methylene blue (MB) dye to compare the changes in the structure, properties, and adsorption-desorption behaviors of the aged and virgin polyethylene microplastics. The results showed that the aged polyethylene microplastics were hydrophilic with oxygen-containing functional groups, which enhanced the adsorption capacity of polyethylene for MB from 0.63 mg·g-1 to 8.12 mg·g-1. The adsorption isotherms changed from the Henry model (virgin polyethylene microplastics) to the Langmuir model (aged polyethylene microplastics), indicating that the partitioning function was gradually replaced by a single-layer covering during the adsorption process. In addition, 7% and 17.8% of the MB loaded onto the aged polyethylene microplastics was desorbed into water and a simulated intestinal fluid, respectively. These findings reveal that aged polyethylene microplastics can accumulate MB, thus posing potential risks to aqueous environments and biological tissues.
