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Switchable degradation of cellulose acetate composite by seawater-activated TiO2 photocatalyst

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Abstract

Several billion tons of plastic waste were discarded in landfills, specifically in marine environments. Remediation of plastic waste is vital for ensuring a clean marine environment. Photocatalyst such as titanium oxide (TiO2) is a promising and environmental friendly approach for plastic waste degradation, compared to other waste management methods. In this study, switchable degradation of a cellulose acetate (CA) was carried out through composite preparation with a seawater-activated TiO2 (SA-TiO2) photocatalyst. The successful preparation of CA/SA-TiO2 composite was confirmed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) results. The degradation of CA through SA-TiO2 in marine environments was confirmed by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography, and FE-SEM results. The seawater-activated degradation makes switchable and degradable polymer-photocatalyst composites an efficient and eco-friendly solution for plastic waste remediation in marine environments.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (2020R1A2C1005394).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Ji Hwan Lee & Seung-Yeop Kwak

  2. Research Institute of Advanced Materials (RIAM), Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Seung-Yeop Kwak

  3. Institute of Engineering Research, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Seung-Yeop Kwak

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  1. Ji Hwan Lee
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  2. Seung-Yeop Kwak
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Correspondence to Seung-Yeop Kwak.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. In this experiment, we did not collect any samples of human and animals.

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Lee, J.H., Kwak, SY. Switchable degradation of cellulose acetate composite by seawater-activated TiO2 photocatalyst. Cellulose 29, 1501–1508 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-021-04381-w

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