C-Cu/Zn/Al bonding carbon-based composites by DEHP-rich PVC/spent copper catalyst dechlorination co-processing for...

Microplastics posed serious threat to public health and safety. Monitoring of microplastics was of great significance for protecting the ecological environment and people's health. Polystyrene fragments (PFM) were typical microplastics. Low-cost and real-time detection of PFM remained challenge. It was found that DEHP-rich PVC/spent copper catalyst underwent dechlorination and decomposition in subcritical water to be transformed to carbon-based composites (C-Cu/Zn/Al-dPVC) with excellent chemiluminescence (CL) initiation capability. PFM effectively quenched CL of the system. Thanks to CL initiation of C-Cu/Zn/Al-dPVC and adsorption bonding of PFM and C-Cu/Zn/Al-dPVC, CL analysis for detecting PFM was constructed. Electron migration from Cu⁺ /Cu²⁺/Cu conversion was driving force for C-Cu/Zn/Al-dPVC triggering luminol CL reaction. C-Cu/Zn/Al bonding promoted electron transfer in Cu⁺/Cu²⁺/Cu conversion, and oxygen captured electrons to form O₂^•-, which triggered luminol CL reaction. Adsorption bonding of PFM and C-Cu/Zn/Al-dPVC altered microscopic electronic distribution and prevented this behavior. The CL system for the detection of PFM had wide linear range of 0.03-900 mg/L. The detection for real water confirmed the reliability of this CL analysis for actual application. LCA results showed that this process had relatively small environmental impact. This work pioneered co-processing of multi-component organic solid wastes/metal-based hazardous wastes for detoxification to develop green CL analysis platform. Multi-factor synergy in promoting electron migration also provided reference for the construction of functional solid waste-based composite materials.