Article
?
AI-assigned paper type based on the abstract. Classification may not be perfect — flag errors using the feedback button.
Tier 2
?
Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Detection Methods
Nanoplastics
Sign in to save
Nanoscale infrared, thermal and mechanical properties of aged microplastics revealed by an atomic force microscopy coupled with infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) technique
The Science of The Total Environment2020
98 citations
?
Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 40
?
0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yu Li,
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Yu Li,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yaoyao Zhao,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Yu Li,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yaoyao Zhao,
Yu Li,
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Yu Li,
Hongwei Luo,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yu Li,
Xiangliang Pan
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Yahui Xiang,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yu Li,
Yaoyao Zhao,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Hongwei Luo,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Yu Li,
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Xiangliang Pan
Summary
Researchers used atomic force microscopy coupled with infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) to characterize nanoscale infrared, thermal, and mechanical properties of TiO2-pigmented microplastics before and after aging, finding that weathering roughened surfaces and altered carbonyl and methylene band intensities.
Microplastics (MPs) often undergo different degrees of aging, and the aged MPs exhibit different surface properties from pristine MPs. This study explored the nanoscale infrared, thermal and mechanical properties of TiO-pigmented MPs before and after aging by using an AFM-IR technique. Results showed that the surface of MPs was relatively smooth before aging, and was rough with more granular domains after aging. The stronger band at 1706 cm (assigned to CO) and the weaker band at 1470 cm (assigned to -CH) were observed in aged MPs due to oxidation of CH bond in low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The softening temperature of MPs was about 209.50 ± 11.48 °C before aging, but after aging it dropped to 94.91 ± 4.40 °C. Aging process mainly reduced the glass transition temperature of the continuous phase (LDPE) rather than the discrete phase (TiO) in MPs. Resonance deviations of the two characteristic peaks (i.e., 299/645 kHz and 311/670 kHz) between unaged and aged MPs were observed, and these characteristic peaks obviously appeared at higher frequencies in aged MPs, suggesting that the MPs after aging became stiffer. A stronger signal at a high frequency and the uniform signal distribution at this frequency confirmed that the mechanical properties of MPs changed after aging. These findings help to better understand the effects of aging process on the physicochemical properties of MPs.