The Uptake Potential of Santa Barbara Amorphous Silica/Zeolite\nComposite for Environmental Microplastics in Wastewater

Recently, the challenge\nof environmental microplastics (enMPs)\nin ecosystems has become a serious global concern. This is because\nthe transport of enMPs has been known as a precarious culprit in depleting\necosystems, likely decreasing life expectancy, reducing the quality\nof human life, and threatening the future survival of fauna and flora.\nThis menace is seriously threatening the continued existence and well-being\nof all biomes. Hence, this research attempts to provide a panacea\nto this global environmental issue through the application of Santa\nBarbara Amorphous silicas/zeolite composite (SSZC) for the removal\nof polystyrene microplastics (PMPs) from water and wastewater. This\nresearch showed that the adsorption capacity of SSZC for PMPs was\n2.41 mg·g<sup>–1</sup>. This was achieved by chemisorption\nbetween SSZC and PMPs via electrostatic attraction and hydrophobic\ninteractions, such as covalent bonding, noncovalent aromatic π-system,\nand electron donor–acceptor interactions. The surface morphology\nof SSZC showed that C–H, C–O, CC, N–H,\nAl–O, Si–O–Si, and Si–OH were the functional\nmoieties present on its surface and available for adsorption.