Abstract

The present study focused on novel plastic waste-derived modified, low-density polyethylene membranes for the solar-light-assisted degradation of the antipyretic drug paracetamol. The LDPE polymeric membrane was extracted from plastic waste and hybridized with synthesized ZnO nanoparticles to fabricate the LDPE/ZnO polymeric membrane. Fabricated ZnO nanoparticles, LDPE, and LDPE/ZnO polymeric membranes were characterized by various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), etc. The developed membrane was further used for the photocatalytic degradation of paracetamol. The reaction between paracetamol and coupling agent (1-Naphthol) produced a colored compound in the form of the azo compound as 4-{[(4-hydroxyphenyl)diazenyl]naphthalene-1-ol} (HDPN) was characterized by UV–visible spectroscopy, FTIR, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and used for degradation studies of the drug. The ZnO NPs (0.6 g) incorporated in the LDPE polymeric membrane were responsible for effective degradation of the 200 μg/L concentration drug at neutral pH 7 due to a smaller band gap of 2.50 eV. The DFT also confirmed degradation studies through the interaction of LDPE/ZnO polymeric membrane with HDPN of paracetamol drug. The developed plastic waste-derived modified low-density polyethylene membrane shows a perfect example of circular economy.