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Influence of weathering on the microplastics formation in the environment
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Researchers simulated UV weathering of polypropylene plastic and tracked how exposure progressively degraded the polymer, causing surface cracking and changes in mechanical properties that facilitate breakdown into microplastics. The results help explain how environmental weathering of plastic waste accelerates microplastic formation.
Porastom proizvodnje i uporabe plastičnih materijala, posljedično raste i količina plastičnog otpada koji nerijetko završava u okolišu. Djelovanjem atmosferskih utjecaja i sunčevog UV zračenja, plastični otpad degradira te s vremenom prelazi u mikroplastiku (MP) predstavljajući time opasnost kako za ljude, tako i za živu i neživu prirodu. U ovom radu praćeno je simulirano UV starenje polimernog materijala polipropilena (PP), pri valnoj duljini zračenja od λ = 290 nm i temperaturi od 45 ± 1°C. Uzorci PP folija debljine 0,2 cm stareni su u periodu od 14, 28, 42 i 56 dana. U svrhu praćenja procesa degradacije provedene su metode karakterizacije. Infracrvenom spektroskopijom (FTIR) određene su vrijednosti karbonilnog indeksa (C.I.), koji se javlja kao posljedica razgradnje PP molekula. Diferencijalnom pretražnom kalorimetrijom (DSC) određene su promjene temperatura: tališta (Tm), kristališta (Tc) i staklišta (Tg) te toplinskih tokova uslijed endotermnih (ΔHm) i egzotermnih (ΔHc) promjena s vremenom starenja, kao i stupanj kristalnosti (Xc). Pretražnom elektronskom mikroskopijom (SEM) praćene su promjene morfologije i površinskih svojstava starenih uzoraka. Difuznom refleksijskom spektroskopijom (DRS) potvrđen je nastanak oksidacijskih C-O skupina kao posljedica UV degradacije polimera. Tehnikom induktivno spregnute plazmom s masenom spektrometrijom (ICP-MS) provedena je identifikacija te su određene koncentracije metala nakon izluživanja. UV stareni uzorci otpuštaju veće koncentracije metala u odnosu na nestarene uzorake, zbog narušene strukture uslijed degradacije. Rezultati svih navedenih metoda dokazali su promjenu svojstava, strukture i kemijskog sastava molekula PP polimera s vremenom UV starenja te posljedično ubrzano nastajanje mikroplastike (MP).
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Researchers studied how UV light and elevated temperature break down four common plastics and found that weathering releases nanoscale plastic particles. Polystyrene and polypropylene were particularly susceptible to UV degradation, generating significant numbers of nanoparticles. The findings confirm that environmental conditions actively fragment microplastics into even smaller, potentially more harmful nanoplastics.
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