Laboratory simulated aging of polystyrene particles and characterization of the resulting nanoscale plastics

Plastics are increasingly produced and used worldwide for their easy accessibility and cost-effectiveness. However, improper plastic disposal has led to ecosystem pollution due to their slow degradation in the natural environment. While worldwide polystyrene (PS) production is estimated at around 21 million tons (8% of all polymer types), the observed PS in recovered plastics from environmental samples does not align with this production volume. Therefore, we hypothesize that the chemical composition of PS might undergo alternations during natural weathering, resulting in fewer identifiable PS components in extracted waste or other environmental samples. To test this hypothesis and comprehend the potential fate and behavior of PS after aging, we conducted lab-accelerated aging processes on pristine PS particles. Through thermal aging and probe sonication, the size distribution of 500 nm polystyrene particles (PS500) was reduced to around 200 nm, as measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS). We further examined the morphology of processed PS500 using atomic force microscopy (AFM), which confirmed changes in shape and size. In total, 97% of PS500 experienced distinct structural changes, whereas 40% of the particles exhibited a ring-opening reaction arising from the conjugated C=C bond breakage, followed by the C-H bond breakage after the laboratory-accelerate aging process; the remaining particles went through chemical changes to different extents. These physical and chemical changes resulting from the simulated aging process contribute to our understanding of the potential destiny of microplastics, underscoring the significance of weathering factors in micro/nanoplastics research.