Η χρήση μικροπλαστικών και υλικών απο συνθετικά πολυμερή στην απορρόφηση πετρελαιοκηλίδων

• Main Author: Δημητρόπουλος, Δημήτριος
• Other Authors: Dimitropoulos, Dimitrios
• Language: Greek
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Συνθετικά; Μικροπλαστικά; Περιβάλλον; Υδάτινο περιβάλλον; Πολυμερή; Synthetics; Microplastics; Environment; Aquatic environment; Polymers

Microplastics pollution is one of the main environmental issues related to the aquatic environment. There are several initiatives that attempt to develop devices to collect microplastics from the aquatic environment as well as to capture microplastic fibers from the source such as lint traps on the effluent of washing machines. At the same time, oil spills are another serious problem that although humans have been facing it for several years, its cleanup has not been resolved yet. There are several materials that have been used to capture oil phase from the sea surface and more are developed or modified to provide optimum properties. One of the main characteristics of the sorbents that is important for oil spill cleanup is hydrophobicity. Synthetic sorbents used in the past for this purpose include polypropylene, polyurethane, and polyesters. Most microplastics are hydrophobic by their nature. However, microplastic fragments, that are mainly polyethylene and polypropylene, are hydrophobic but have low surface area. On the other hand, plastic fibers that can be used to create a mesh type material are mainly polyester that is less hydrophobic. Evaluating all parameters that are relevant to oil spill cleanup will allow the determination of the optimum suggestion for the reuse of microplastics for this application.