Photocatalytic degradation of polyethylene plastics by NiAl2O4 spinels-synthesis and characterization

Over past twenty years, daily usage of Microplastics (MPs) and their pollution are gradually increasing. Especially, the polyethylene bags were used for food storage. So their productivity as well discarding after use are rapidly growing and shown their great impact on the environment. Hence, there is need to control the plastics from environment decomposition. For that, we have attempted that preparation of NiAl2O4 Spinels by two different methods such as co-precipitation and hydrothermal. The synthesized spinels were thoroughly studied by some instrumental techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and ultraviolet (UV–Vis) spectrophotometer). The photocatalytic experiment was adopted for the degradation of commercially available polyethylene bags using prepared spinels. The obtained results from FTIR after degradation process confirmed that the polyethylene sheet was degraded in 5 h with the help of prepared spinels and the weight loss is 12.5% obtained using hydrothermally prepared spinels. This study shows new path to develop more functional materials for the degradation of MPs.