Extraction of Micro- and Nano-Plastic Particles from Water Using Hydrophobic Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents

The production of plastic and the amount of waste plastic that enters the environment increases every year. Synthetic polymers will gradually break down into particles on the micro- and nano-scale. The micro- and nano-plastics pose a significant ecological harm by transporting toxic chemicals and causing inflammation and cellular damage when ingested. Two common plastics are polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and Polystyrene (PS), and a newer bioplastic polylactic acid (PLA) that has become a popular alternative. Deep eutectic solvents are a recently discovered solvent composed of a hydrogen bond donor and hydrogen bond acceptor and have been proposed as a cheaper alternative to ionic liquids. Hydrophobic varieties of natural DES (NADES) have been used as extractants in liquid-liquid extractions. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between three NADES and micro- and nano-plastics in a liquid-liquid extraction system. The results show that all three NADES extracted plastic particles in the range of 55%-83% with varying rates of extraction. The conclusions from this study are that the plastic particles have a higher affinity for NADES than water and may extract at different rates, but the maximum percentage of plastic particles extracted does not vary significantly.