Household Mixed Plastic Waste Derived Adsorbents for CO2 Capture: A Feasibility Study

Emmanuel Dan, Alan McCue, Davide Dionisi, Claudia Fernandez Martin* (Corresponding Author)

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

The feasibility of producing activated carbon (AC) from real Household Mixed Plastic Waste (HMPW) comprising of LDPE, HDPE, PP, PS, and PET for carbon capture via direct carbonization followed by microwave-assisted or conventional thermally assisted chemical activation was investigated. A microwave-assisted activation procedure was adopted to assess the impact on the CO2 capture capacity of the resulting AC using both a lower temperature (400°C vs. 700°C) and a shorter duration (5 vs. 120 mins) than that required for conventional
activation. The results obtained showed that the AC yield was 71 and 78% for the conventional and microwave-assisted samples, respectively. Microwave activation consumed five-fold less energy (0.19 kWh) than the conventional activation (0.98 kWh). Thermal stability results indicated total weight loss of 10.0 and 8.3 wt.%, respectively, for conventional and microwave20 activated samples over the temperature range of 25–1000°C, with ACs from both activation routes displaying a type 1 nitrogen isotherm. The dynamic CO2 uptake capacity at 1 bar and 25°C was 1.53 mmol/g, with maximum equilibrium uptake ranging between 1.32-2.39 mmol/g at temperatures (0-50°C) and 1 bar for the conventionally activated AC. The analogous microwave-activated sample showed a higher dynamic CO2 uptake of 1.62 mmol/g and equilibrium uptake in the range 1.58 - 2.88 mmol/g under equivalent conditions. The results therefore indicate that microwave activation results in enhanced carbon capture potential. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first-time microwave heating has been employed to convert household mixed plastic wastes directly into ACs for carbon capture applications. This report therefore demonstrates that the management of mixed plastics could lead to the development of a circular economy through the conversion of waste into value-added materials.
Original languageEnglish
Article number120466
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Environmental Management
Volume355
Early online date3 Mar 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Nigeria, for funding the Doctoral programme of Emmanuel Dan at the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom. Dr Claudia Fernández Martín thanks the Development Trust, Grant 1155, awarded for the acquisition of the microwave apparatus FlexiWave from Milestone used for this study.
Also, authors thank the electrical/electronic workshop, University of Aberdeen, UK for supplying the electrical equipment for the energy measurement.
For open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.

Data Availability Statement

No data was used for the research described in the article.

Keywords

  • Household mixed plastic waste
  • activated carbon
  • carbon capture
  • adsorption
  • Microwave activation

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