Facile synthesis of functional holocellulose fibers for removal of micro-/nanoparticles of plastics from waste water

Micro-/nanoparticles of plastics in water caused by the massive use and high stability of plastic products have become a major global environmental problem. The method based on biomass adsorbent materials to remove plastic fragments from environment is highly needed. In this work, functional polyethylenimine coated holocellulose acetoacetate (HAA-PEI) fibers were synthesized via a facial way for the removal of polystyrene (PS) micro-/nanoparticles with different sizes from wastewater was analyzed in detail. It revealed that HAA-PEI fibers, act as ideal capturing materials, display maximum adsorption efficiency of 99 %, 98 %, and 97 % for PS particles with diameters of 100 nm, 500 nm, and 1 μm, respectively. The adsorption process of HAA-PEI fibers for PS MNPs conforms to pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetics model and Langmuir isotherm model. Meanwhile, the adsorbed PS micro-/nanoparticles can be easily removed via the alkali treatment or used directly with holocellulose fibers for paper-making. Therefore, the prepared HAA-PEI fibers can be applied as high extraction efficiency, easy to obtain, easy to desorption adsorbents for green, rapid, and large-scale remediation in the future.