Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID ND_2023_Ji_1

Data mining of hybrid processes for microplastics treatments in wastewater and landfill leachate

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2024-05-15
Total Federal Funds: $4,363 Total Non-Federal Funds: $4,759

Principal Investigators: Yun Ji

Project Summary: Microplastics have been found in both tap water and bottled water. Global annual plastic production currently exceeds 300 million tons, and about 13 million of them are released into aquatic environments (Hou et al., 2021). Microplastics (MPs), represent a highly complex and diverse mixture with different composition, shapes, and size distribution. The chemical and physical characterization of microplastics has a deep impact on the following treatment process. The basic properties depend on composition, including polyester (PES), polyamide (PA), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene, polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene, acylate and chemical additives. The different morphology includes fibers, fragments, microbeads, film, and foam. The variation of MP composition is closely related to influent sources (Sun et al., 2019).