- Published
- 19 April 2023
- Journal article
Plasma degradation of contaminated PPE: an energy-efficient method to treat contaminated plastic waste
- Authors
- Source
- npj Materials Degradation
Abstract
The use of PPE has drastically increased because of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic as disposable surgical face masks made from non-biodegradable polypropylene (PP) polymers have generated a significant amount of waste. In this work, a low-power plasma method has been used to degrade surgical masks. Several analytical techniques (gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflection-infra-red spectroscopy (ATR-IR), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry (TGA/DSC) and wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS)) were used to evaluate the effects of plasma irradiation on mask samples. After 4 h of irradiation, an overall mass loss of 63 ± 8%, through oxidation followed by fragmentation, was observed on the non-woven 3-ply surgical mask, which is 20 times faster than degrading a bulk PP sample. Individual components of the mask also showed different degradation rates. Air plasma clearly represents an energy-efficient tool for treating contaminated PPE in an environmentally friendly approach.
Rights
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Cite as
Marco Tobías, M., Åhlén, M., Cheung, O., Bucknall, D., McCoustra, M. & Yiu, H. 2023, 'Plasma degradation of contaminated PPE: an energy-efficient method to treat contaminated plastic waste', npj Materials Degradation, 7, article no: 33. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-023-00350-9