Executive Summary : | Microplastics have proven to palpable threat to our ecosystem. From the near shore to the broad ocean, from the top to the bottom, and from subtropical to polar seas, microplastics are everywhere. They become more bioavailable to small aquatic animals, including zooplankton, as their size decreases. Microplastics have been found in a variety of species at various trophic levels. Microplastics monitoring and analysis in diverse abiotic and biotic environmental matrices can provide basic scientific information about their pollution status, concentration hot spots, historical trends, and organism exposure. There is currently no limit on the amount of microplastics that can be found in water bodies, and the goal of removal is to get rid of as much as possible. The difficulty of properly removing microplastics from water is a pressing one. As a result, a cost-effective and reusable technology for removing microplastics from water before it is released is required. To address this growing problem, we propose to utilize the three-dimensional porous framework of zeolite that gives rise to a large specific surface area with a net negative charge, a high pollutant interception capacity, ion exchange, and acid resistance capabilities. Additionally, simulated microplastic environment will be created to understand the interaction of zeolite with microplastics. NaY zeolite with and without surface modification with cationic surfactants such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at different loading levels will be prepared. Further, microplastics will be fabricated from commonly available day-to-day plastic items that will be put under ultrasonication conditions. Also different water resources- ponds, river water, ground water, industrial effluents will be analyzed for microplastics and treated in a continuous column set-up with surface modified Zeolite Y to remediate microplastics. Analysis of micro/nanoplastics will be done in FTIR, Raman, Optical microscope, SEM, pyro-GCMS etc. Detailed modeling and optimization of microplastic remediation with Zeolite Y will be done. An adsorption study will be conducted to understand the trapping mechanisms of microplastics on zeolite Y. |