Waste plastics acts as a good growth promoter: a laboratory-based study

Abstract Majority of non-biodegradable waste were generated from various plastic products. Our objective was to the conversion of waste PET plastics to carbon microsphere, their characterization and their application in the field of germination of Cicer arietinum and biochemical analysis. In order to achieve the above objectives, waste PET plastics was converted to carbon microsphere through heating at 800 °C by muffle furnace followed by characterization by using SEM-EDX, XRD and FTIR. The results of SEM and XRD are revealed that PET plastic are comfortably converted to microsphere with a diameter ranges between 2-8 µm with amorphous nature and FTIR study suggested that the existence of aromatic C-H and aromatic ring along with carbonyl groups. Root morphology suggested that both root length and seminal root number gradually decrease with increasing carbon-dot dose. Biochemical results revealed that the level of proline, catalase and MDA levels significantly (p < 0.0001) increase with increasing the dose of carbon dot. Finally, it can be concluded that lower dose of carbon-dot could be beneficial for both seed germination and seedling growth, but higher dose may have adverse effect on plant community.