Investigation on the adsorption and desorption behaviors of antibiotics by degradable MPs with or without UV ageing process

Sorption of chemical contaminants on degradable and non-degradable microplastics: Recent progress and research trends

“…The highest sorption capacities of tetracycline and ciprofloxacin were reported by Li et al (2018), being 3.84 and 2.20 mg/g in PA, respectively. The results by Fan et al (2021) show that the sorption capacity of PLA to antibiotics is among the highest in contrast with nondegradable microplastics. Additionally, Ateia et al (2020) found that PLA originated from biodegradable plastic cups had the highest adsorption of acetamidophenol when compared to a wide range of microplastic polymers (HDPE, PE, PP, PET; EPS, PA66, among others).…”

“…Regarding pharmaceuticals, it was observed that the PLA's sorption capacity of tetracycline (2.51 mg/g) and ciprofloxacin (3.19 mg/g) was significantly higher than PVC's (Fan et al, 2021). A simulated aging process of PLA and PVC microplastics by UV light increased their sorption capacity.…”

“…Microplastics in the environment undergo weathering conditions that may form surface functional groups, decreasing their hydrophobicity, decrease their molecular weight and density through chain scission, become fragile and irregularly shaped (Alimi et al, 2018;Celina, 2013;Hüffer et al, 2018). Fan et al (2021) researched the effect of UV aging on the sorption of TC and CIP to PLA and PVC microplastics. It was noted that UV aging increased the specific surface area and the surface negative charges.…”

“…Contrary to nondegradable microplastics, studies investigating the sorption behavior of pollutants onto degradable plastics are very recent and limited. Only eight articles were found in this line of research, encompassing metals (Li et al, 2020;Liao and Yang, 2020), PAHs (Zhao et al, 2020;Zuo et al, 2019), PFASs (Ateia et al, 2020), pesticides (Gong et al, 2019;Tubić et al, 2019), and pharmaceuticals (Fan et al, 2021). Table 1 summarizes sorption capacity and coefficient in degradable polymers.…”

“…Table 1 summarizes sorption capacity and coefficient in degradable polymers. Some researchers made comparative analyses between the sorption behavior of certain pollutants onto degradable or nondegradable microplastics (Fan et al, 2021;Gong et al, 2019) while highlighting the necessity for extensive research of the sorption of contaminants onto degradable microplastics.…”