Developing a new sustainable eco-adsorbent film from flexographic printing plate waste to remove cationic organic and inorganic pollutants

Although climate change poses a threat to the future of the world, we still have time to adapt and lessen its effects. However, the incineration of polymeric waste materials has increased the release of carbon-containing gases called greenhouse gases (GHGs) and tiny particles called 'black carbon', leading to global warming, which is the cause of the worst environmental crisis in history. Flexography is an advanced printing technique and is widely used in the packaging industry as well as in the printing of various functional films and coatings. In general, the polymeric waste produced from this industry poses a grave environmentally sustainable problem; thus, due to the fact that this waste's primary component is carbon, it has attracted our attention towards converting it into carbon-based value-added products such as graphene, which can be used in water treatment processes. The prepared material was tested as a potential coated film in a batch adsorption system for the removal of lead (Pb) and methylene blue (MB) after being supported on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) film. Furthermore, contact time, solution pH, and starting pollutant concentrations were studied and used in the response surface methodology (RSM) model for optimization. The adsorption kinetics were more clearly depicted by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. To meet the objectives of waste management and water treatment, waste-derived materials can be used in wastewater treatment, based on the "wastes-treat-wastes" approach. The functional groups in the film and the pollutants' molecules combine through chemically and electrostatically adsorb.