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Upcycling Hospital Lab Polypropylene Waste into a Fully Integrated Additive Manufacturing Electroanalytical Sensing

Muhzamil A Khan¹, Elena Bernalte¹, Danielle Stephens²

¹Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Dalton Building, Chester Street, Manchester M1 5GD, Great Britain.

ACS Sustainable Resource Management

|December 8, 2025

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Hospital plastic waste is upcycled into conductive filament for 3D printing. This recycled material creates high-performance electrodes for clinical electrochemical sensing of drugs and biomarkers like uric acid.

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Electrochemistry
Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

Plastic waste, particularly from healthcare, significantly contributes to landfill burden.
Recycling initiatives are crucial for waste reduction, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Polypropylene (PP) is a common plastic waste material with potential for valorization.

Purpose of the Study:

To upcycle hospital lab waste polypropylene (PP) into a conductive filament for additive manufacturing.
To develop and characterize electrodes from this recycled material for electroanalytical applications.
To demonstrate the utility of these electrodes in clinical settings for drug and biomarker detection.

Main Methods:

A solvent-free methodology was employed to create a conductive filament by incorporating 30 wt% carbon black into recycled PP.

Keywords:

additive manufacturing plastic waste polypropylene recycling sustainable development goals upcycling

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The conductive filament was characterized for its physical and electrical properties, including conductivity and resistance.

Electrodes were fabricated using the recycled filament and electrochemically evaluated.

The electrodes were applied to simultaneous detection of acetaminophen (ACE) and phenylephrine (PHE), and uric acid (UA) sensing.

Main Results:

The upcycled PP filament exhibited excellent low-temperature flexibility and high conductivity (61 ± 7 Ω cm^-1).
Reproducible electrodes were produced, showing an improved electron transfer rate constant (2.75 ± 0.12 × 10^-3 cm s^-1) compared to virgin PP.
The electrodes successfully detected ACE and PHE simultaneously and sensed UA in urine with a limit of detection of 0.03 μM and 97.6% recovery.

Conclusions:

Hospital waste PP can be successfully upcycled into high-performance conductive filaments for additive manufacturing.
The recycled conductive material enables the fabrication of effective electrodes for clinical electroanalytical applications.
This approach promotes a circular economy by transforming waste into valuable, functional materials.