Filtering Microplastics from Water with Lipids Extracted from Jackfruit Seeds

Abstract (EN)

This study explores a process that removes microplastics from water using lipids extracted from jackfruit seeds by fractional distillation. The lipids extract is applied to a sieve that is then used to filter a suspension of microplastics in water. Photographs of water samples taken with a microscope before and after filtering with and without the lipids extract showed that passing water through the lipid coated wire mesh removed 94.1 ± 0.5 % of the microplastic. Without lipids coating the sieve the rate of removal was 5.1 ± 0.2 %, showing that fatty coatings can greatly enhance the efficiency of microplastic capture in this setting.