Flexible CuS/TiO2 based composites made with recycled bags and polystyrene for the efficient removal of the 4-CP pesticide from drinking water

Conversion of Plastic Waste into Supports for Nanostructured Heterogeneous Catalysts: Application in Environmental Remediation

“…According to the authors, CuST was selected because it is non-toxic and has high chemical stability and a high surface area. The composites RPS-CuST and RBag-CuST produced maximum degradation percentages of 89 and 100%, respectively, thus demonstrating the feasibility of converting polymeric residues into products with a valuable destination for removing contaminants from water through heterogeneous photocatalysis [19]. The conversion of polystyrene waste into value-added composites was also investigated by our research group, as presented by Assis, et al (2018) [20], where it was shown that combining two issues of emerging concern (exploring the reuse of polystyrene and water contamination by toxic dyes) is an important line of investigation in the development of multifunctional materials.…”

“…Plastic waste has been extensively investigated to obtain new value-added products, such as composites applied in various industrial sectors, and for the development of technologies applied in environmental decontamination, such as supports for nanostructured catalysts. These nanostructured materials are of high importance in several catalytic applications, but their use in suspension can cause reaction problems and risks to the environment [19][20][21].…”

“…The non-biodegradability and poor management of plastic waste can cause several environmental risks regarding the safety and clogging of sewage in urban cities and other production areas [19]. In addition to the contamination caused by plastic waste in the environment, climate-induced degradation is also a problem.…”

“…Recently, Valadez-Renteria et al ( 2021) [19] used polymer waste from recycled bags (RBag) or recycled polystyrene (RPS) from food packaging to manufacture flexible and efficient photocatalytic composites applied in the photodegradation of the pesticide 4chlorophenol. The waste came from recycled polypropylene/polyethylene high-density bags and polystyrene food packaging.…”

“…In this context, plastic waste has been promising for the field of catalysis, in obtaining supports for catalysts, and especially for nanostructured catalysts [19][20][21]. Usually, catalysts are applied in suspension in the reaction medium in powder form, which can influence problems such as loss of the catalyst; another problem is that when the catalyst is applied in powder form, the recovery is carried out using traditional methods, such as separation, extraction, filtration, vacuum distillation or centrifugation, which are tedious and timeconsuming processes.…”