A Comparative Sorption Study for Phenol & Tricholorophenol onto Polyethylene Type Microplastics

In freshwater systems, microplastics and organic contaminants are prevalent pollutants. Using kinetics and isotherm analyses, this research investigates the sorption of two organic compounds (Phenol and 2,3,6-Trichlorophenol) on pristine polyethylene (PE). The hydrophilic nature of phenol is hypothesized to have low affinity for PE, on the contrary, 2,3,6-TCP is expected to have higher affinity. The goal of this study is to compare the interactions between PE and two extensively used yet physio-chemically distinct chemicals. Experimental results show 2,3,6-TCP sorption is fast (teq=24hr) with qeq 180 mu g/g, while phenol sorption is slow (teq=28days), with non-detectable capacity. PE sample, having medium to high density and crystallinity seems to result in longer equilibration times and lower sorption capacity when compared to other MPs studied in the literature.