Eliminating Microplastic Contamination in Water

The Challenge

Have you ever noticed that your clothes get a bit “worn” over time? Have you ever thought, “gee, that polo fleece used to be so fluffy?” You are not imagining it. Your clothes have gradually diminished over time – they are shedding microfibres. And if your clothes contain nylon, polyester, acrylic, lycra or other synthetics, then they are shedding microplastics. Most of this comes off the clothes in the washing machine.

Plastic microfibres are a significant problem in our aquatic environments, with particles coming from car tyres, the soles of your shoes, and little bits that get lost from a range of industrial processes. But just from your clothes, it is estimated each person could be shedding up to 100g a year in microplastics.

In harsh settings where clothes are being repeatedly washed, like hospitals, this amounts to a significant amount of microplastics ending up in our waterways. They are a pollutant, potentially toxic, block and damage urban and natural spaces, and end up in the food chain.

The Solution

PEGRAS and the Key Centre for Colloids and Polymers (KCPC) at The University of Sydney are collaborating on an elegant multi-stage process. Taking cues from tried and tested techniques in other processing industries, they have developed a unique coagulant procedure to draw out the microfibres, leaving behind only pure water.

Sensing will be an essential aspect. The project will use FT-IR spectroscopy and imaging techniques such as optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The KCPC laboratory can effectively characterize the presence of microplastics, and by doing this at various stages of the process, they will identify the performance of the operations.

The results in the preliminary stages of the research have exceeded expectations, and the partners are excited to push this work to the next level.

Industry Partners

University Partners