OBTAINING POLYSTYRENE FOAMS FOR APPLICATION AS ADSORBENTS AND PHOTOCATALYST SUPPORTS: SULFONATION AS A FUNCTIONALIZATION STRATEGY

Abstract

Humanity is currently producing more and more plastic waste, and one of the scientific community's biggest concerns is the environmental impact this generates. In turn, emerging pollutants (pesticides, pharmaceuticals, textile dyes, etc.) present in liquid effluents impact water bodies even in very small concentrations, and can cause damage to human health and the environment. Heterogeneous photocatalysis, classified as an Advanced Oxidative Process (AOP), is suitable for degrading these pollutants and the use of photocatalysts immobilized on different ceramic, polymeric, metallic and other supports has been an alternative with promising results and advantages over use in suspension. In this sense, photocatalytic supports made from plastic waste, such as polystyrene (PS), correspond to an innovative approach to dual depollution and show promising results, but have hydrophobic characteristics, which can be circumvented by functionalizing the surface. In addition, PS-based materials have shown interesting results in terms of the adsorption of hazardous contaminants. Therefore, the aim of this project is to obtain porous foams from polystyrene, functionalize them via sulphonation and use them as adsorbents and supports for different photocatalysts, evaluating their performance with regard to the removal of acetaminophen, selected as the model contaminant.