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The Rock‐Eval Method
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This paper is not directly about microplastics; it introduces the Rock-Eval thermal analysis method, which was originally developed for characterising oil source rocks but is now also applied to characterise microplastics and monitor environmental pollution remediation, among other emerging uses.
This book presents the Rock-Eval® method, which was invented in France in the 1970s and is used by the oil industry worldwide to characterize source rocks and reservoir rocks as well as their petroleum potential. Rock Eval® has also spread to other fields of application, including soil science, paleoceanography, paleoclimatology, environmental science (i.e. monitoring pollution remediation), material chemistry (i.e. carbonates, microplastics) and many others. The Rock-Eval Method presents a collection of chapters reviewing this method and its fields of application, and examines its possible developments. The authors are from either the academic or applied sector and have all contributed to the development of the Rock Eval® apparatus and method. This instrument, which lies somewhere between a chromatographic, a thermal and an elemental analyzer, is now evolving to be an analytical platform, on which new fields of applications can be tested in the future.
More Papers Like This
Influence of mineral and organic matrices on the thermal characterization of microplastics
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Researchers investigated how mineral and organic matrices in sediments interfere with Rock-Eval thermal characterization of microplastics, finding that both matrix types alter key pyrolysis and oxidation parameters and must be accounted for when using this method to quantify microplastic pollution in sediments.
Characterization of single and mixed microplastics in environmental matrices using Rock-Eval® pyrolysis.
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Researchers tested a heating-based lab method called Rock-Eval pyrolysis to detect three common plastics mixed into sand, soil, and river sediment samples. The method tracked plastic amounts reasonably well for single plastics, but mixtures of two or three plastics together produced higher readings than expected, showing the method needs further refinement for complex samples.
The effect of the mineral matrix during thermal analysis of polymers: Implications for microplastics characterization
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Researchers tested how mineral particles in natural sediments — like clays and iron oxides — interfere with a thermal analysis method (Rock-Eval) used to identify and measure microplastics, finding that minerals can speed up, slow down, or fractionate polymer breakdown. Despite these distortions, plastic quantities can still be accurately measured, validating the method for real-world sediment samples.
Analysis of microplastic in environmental samples using thermal analytical methods
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This conference presentation summarized thermal analytical methods available for detecting and quantifying microplastics in environmental samples, covering polymer types, phases, morphology, density, and analysis options. Thermal methods offer mass-based quantification of microplastics that complements optical and spectroscopic techniques.
Modeling microplastic with polyethylene (PE) spherical particles: a differential scanning calorimetry approach for quantification
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Researchers developed a thermal analysis approach to detect and quantify polyethylene microplastics in environmental samples, offering an alternative to optical methods. Accurate quantification tools are essential for understanding the true scale of microplastic contamination in soil and water.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.