Scientists have figured out a better option to deal with increasing plastic waste across the world. A team of researchers developed a breakthrough method that easily converts microplastics into a material that’s harder than diamond and has an increasing demand in multiple industries.

Researchers converted microplastics into graphene that could be used for several applications, including the manufacturing of various sensors and water purification, as well as the absorption of PFAS.

“Approximately 30 mg of microplastics produced nearly 5 mg of graphene in 1 minute. This production rate is remarkably higher than achieved previously, and offers a simpler, more environmentally friendly alternative to current techniques,” said James Cook University’s Adeel Zafar.

Microplastics are notorious for their non-degradable and insoluble nature in water

JCU Mohan Jacob maintained that some plastic waste degrades into smaller fragments, often reaching micron sizes, which are notorious for their non-degradable and insoluble nature in water and are an evolving threat to fish and, animals and humans.
Researchers have underlined that microplastics’ characteristics enable them to absorb organic pollutants, and once they are in water, they are ultimately integrated into both marine and human food chains.

Recycling of microplastics faces significant challenges

“Disturbingly, microplastics disrupt marine life and coral reproduction,” said Zafar.
He stressed that the recycling of microplastics faces significant challenges due to labor-intensive separation processes and high costs, resulting in very low resource recovery globally.
“Upcycling, which involves transforming plastic waste into higher-value materials rather than simply breaking it down, has a high demand,” said Zafar.

Microplastics turned into graphene

The team ground-up plastic bottles into microplastics and then used the new Atmospheric Pressure Microwave Plasma synthesis technique to convert the debris to graphene –  a one atom thick carbon material that is harder than diamond, 200 times stronger than steel and five times lighter than aluminium – the use of which is burgeoning in several industries, according to James Cook University.

“The research not only pioneers a novel approach to graphene synthesis but also contributes to the broader goal of mitigating the adverse effects of microplastic pollution on our ecosystems,” said professor Jacob.

This study demonstrates that polyethylene microplastics from waste dropper bottles can be efficiently transformed into graphene using APMP synthesis.

Raman spectroscopy of synthesized material reveals a spectrum characteristic of graphene‐based materials, with indications of defects and the presence of oxygen content.

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