Development of a schwarzite-based moving bed 3D printed water treatment system for nanoplastic remediation

B Gupta and RS Ambekar and RM Tromer and PS Ghosal and R Sinha and A Majumder and P Kumbhakar and PM Ajayan and DS Galvao and AK Gupta and CS Tiwary, RSC ADVANCES, 11, 19788-19796 (2021).

DOI: 10.1039/d1ra03097c

The impact of micro and nanoplastic debris on our aquatic ecosystem is among the most prominent environmental challenges we face today. In addition, nanoplastics create significant concern for environmentalists because of their toxicity and difficulty in separation and removal. Here we report the development of a 3D printed moving bed water filter (M-3DPWF), which can perform as an efficient nanoplastic scavenger. The enhanced separation of the nanoplastics happens due to the creation of a charged filter material that traps the more surface charged nanoparticles selectively. Synthetic contaminated water from polycarbonate waste has been tested with the filter, and enhanced nanoplastic removal has been achieved. The proposed filtration mechanism of surface-charge based water cleaning is further validated using density function theory (semi-empirical) based simulation. The filter has also shown good structural and mechanical stability in both static and dynamic water conditions. The field suitability of the novel treatment system has also been confirmed using water from various sources, such as sea, river, and pond. Our results suggest that the newly developed water filter can be used for the removal of floating nanoparticles in water as a robust advanced treatment system.

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