Adsorption of PM2.5 emissions from laser printer by paper waste aerogel

Abstract

Paper waste, rich in cellulose fibers have become recycled material for pollutant adsorption. This work investigated the feasibility of using aerogel produced from paper waste to capture particulate matter (PM2.5) particles emitted from laser printer devices during their printing job. This study also determined the adsorption behavior using an appropriate isotherm model in the batch process. The preparation conditions for adsorbent aerogel included 3 types of paper waste (2-used sided paper; 2P, color and newspaper), the pretreatment process and production procedures for waste paper aerogel (WPA) and waste paper/chitosan aerogel (WP-CSA). Experiments were conducted in a simulated chamber under actual printing environmental conditions. The results showed that (1) the paper-based aerogels were capable of capturing particle emissions from the printing, (2) the pretreatment process played a significant role in adsorption capacity and (3) the aerogel obtained from 2P without treatment and WPA process showed the best removal efficiency, up to 12 μg/m3 or 63.2% compared with baseline. At equilibrium, this adsorption process obeyed the Freundlich model with an R2 value of 0.83. This implied that the adsorption sites on the aerogel surface were heterogeneous in nature and presented a strong interaction between PM2.5 and adsorbent fibers. They revealed a maximum adsorption capacity of 0.002 mg/g. Overall, this conversion, an environmentally friendly alternative to reuse paper waste, showed excellent adsorption capacity and reduced health risks from exposure to PM2.5 from laser printer devices.