Faculty Mentor
Dr. Francisco Cubas, Dr. L. Stetson Rowles
Location
Poster 144
Session Format
Poster Presentation
Academic Unit
Department of Civil Engineering
Keywords
Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing Student Research Symposium, Microplastic
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Presentation Type and Release Option
Presentation (Restricted to Georgia Southern)
Start Date
2022 12:00 AM
January 2022
Unraveling Microplastic Fate and Transport in Aerobic and Anaerobic Sediment Conditions
Poster 144
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To replicate oxidized and reduced circumstances, the MP-sediment interaction will be studied in three sediment environments: aerobic (oxidized environment), anaerobic (reduced conditions), and cyclic aerobic-anaerobic environments.
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As part of the experimental setup, five continuously stirred tank (CSTR) batch reactors (2000 mL flaks) operated for 60 days will be used. Two will act as controls while the remaining ones will have different environments.
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The aerobic condition will be achieved through the use of an air diffuser, while the anaerobic reactors will be sealed to the environment and purged with nitrogen gas.
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Dissolved oxygen (DO), Temperature, pH, Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP), nutrient content, and organic matter quantification analyses will be done periodically to sustain the required experimental environments.
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Quantification and the morphology of the microplastics will be assessed using a UV‐VIS (Ultraviolet‐Visible) spectrometer, and the MP chemical characterization will be conducted using Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
