Fig. 5: Functionalization of NOPs with a photosensitizer, microplastic uptake and degradation performance of the BDS gel.
From: A self-regulating shuttle for autonomous seek and destroy of microplastics from wastewater
a Experimental procedure to functionalize the NOPs with the photocatalyst b Schematic illustration of the polystyrene uptake and its ROS-based decomposition. SEM micrographs before (c) and after (d) the microplastic uptake and after the irradiation. e (scale bars = 20 μm). f Thermogravimetric comparison of the microplastic quantity in the BDS-gel before (cyan) and after (yellow) washing (left) and before (cyan) and after (yellow) irradiation (right). A BDS-gel without porphyrin on the NOPs was used as a reference. g Microplastic removal efficiency (cyan) and total microplastic uptake (magenta) for three cycles determined from thermogravimetric analysis.
