title: Combating oil spill problem using plastic waste.
abstract: Thermoplastic polymers (such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high density polyethylene (HDPE)) constitute 5-15% of municipal solid waste produced across the world. A huge quantity of plastic waste is disposed of each year and is mostly either discarded in landfills or incinerated. On the other hand, the usage of synthetic polymers as oil sorbents, in particular, polyolefins, including polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene (PE) are the most commonly used oil sorbent materials mainly due to their low cost. However, they possess relatively low oil absorption capacities. In this work, we provide an innovative way to produce a value-added product such as oil-sorbent film with high practical oil uptake values in terms of g/g from waste HDPE bottles for rapid oil spill remedy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Karachi, Pakistan. Electronic address: junaidupm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Junaid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saleem
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barford
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong; Division of Sustainable Development, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McKay
mesh_terms: D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D020959:Polyethylene / Q000737:chemistry*; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D062611:Solid Waste; D020959:Polyethylene
keywords: Oil spill; Oil uptake; Plastic waste; Polymer film; Sorbent