The Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences

2027 Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences

January 12-15, 2027

Repurposing Waste Polystyrene into Water Treatment Material through Function-Decoupled Design
ID:367 Poster Presentation

2027-01-15 17:45 (China Standard Time)

Session:Session 59 - Emerging Marine Pollution and Ecotoxicology

Abstract
Plastic waste accumulation has become one of the most pressing global environmental challenges, yet direct upcycling of post-consumer plastics remains limited by contamination and compositional heterogeneity. Conventional recycling technologies largely depend on high-purity feedstocks, making substantial quantities of waste plastics unsuitable for value-added applications. To overcome this limitation, this study presents a direct upcycling strategy that repurposes post-consumer polystyrene (PS) as a porous structural scaffold for water treatment without requiring energy-intensive purification or chemical transformation. The proposed strategy is based on the deliberate decoupling of structural and adsorptive functions. Waste PS serves as the porous structural scaffold, while embedded powdered activated carbon (PAC) serves as the active adsorbent for contaminant removal. By separating these functions into distinct components, the adsorption performance becomes independent of the intrinsic adsorption properties and compositional heterogeneity of the waste plastic, enabling heterogeneous post-consumer PS to be directly converted into a functional environmental material. The feasibility of the proposed strategy was demonstrated using sucralose, a persistent and highly water-soluble artificial sweetener, as a representative emerging micropollutant. Rather than treating waste plastics as recyclable feedstocks that require chemical conversion, this strategy directly utilizes their inherent structural properties. This function-decoupled design provides a new pathway for plastic waste upcycling and sustainable water treatment.
Speaker
INHYUP KIM Pusan National University

Author
INHYUP KIM Pusan National University

    Important Dates

    • Jan 30

      2026

      Session / Event proposals open

    • Mar 31

      2026

      Session / Event proposals close
      (Extended to April 7)

    • Apr 30

      2026

      Session acceptance notifications

    • Apr 30

      2026

      Abstract submissions & registration open

    • Jun 30

      2026

      Abstract submissions close
      (Extended to July 21)

    • Aug 31

      2026

      Abstract acceptance notifications

    • Sep 15

      2026

      Scientific program released

    • Oct 15

      2026

      Early bird registration closes

    • Jan 12–15

      2027

      XMAS 2027