I have added PVC to my bacterial culture broth to see the degradation potential of bacteria toward the microplastics. The PVC, I have used is small powder granules. After proper incubation, I would like to stop the experiment. What would be the ideal method to separate the microplastic from the culture broth and analyze it for possible weight loss and further characterization?
Perhaps my first suggestion would be to perform a cleaning using hydrogen peroxide and a density-based zinc chloride separation. The density of the NaCl solution at 25°C is stated to be 1.202 g/mL. This means that the solution is less dense than PVC, as the density of PVC ranges from 1.44 to 1.48 g/cm³. As a result, if PVC and NaCl solution are combined, PVC will sink to the bottom due to its higher density.
On the other hand, the zinc chloride solution's density is 1.79 g/mL, which is higher than the density of PVC. Therefore, if PVC and zinc chloride solution are mixed, PVC will float on the surface, while the denser zinc chloride solution will remain at the bottom.
But I recommend you do a testing procedure for more reliable results.
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