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Formation of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals on Microplastics under Light Irradiation

Environmental Science & Technology 2019 528 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 50 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Kecheng Zhu, Kecheng Zhu, Xuetao Guo, Kecheng Zhu, Kecheng Zhu, Tianjiao Xia, Kecheng Zhu, Tiecheng Wang, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Kecheng Zhu, Kecheng Zhu, Kecheng Zhu, Kecheng Zhu, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Kecheng Zhu, Xuetao Guo, Tianjiao Xia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Song Zhao, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Tianjiao Xia, Tianjiao Xia, Tianjiao Xia, Tianjiao Xia, Tianjiao Xia, Kecheng Zhu, Kecheng Zhu, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Tiecheng Wang, Tiecheng Wang, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Tiecheng Wang, Hanzhong Jia, Lingyan Zhu Tiecheng Wang, Lingyan Zhu Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Lingyan Zhu Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Tiecheng Wang, Kecheng Zhu, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Tiecheng Wang, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Tiecheng Wang, Hanzhong Jia, Tiecheng Wang, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Tiecheng Wang, Tiecheng Wang, Tiecheng Wang, Tiecheng Wang, Tiecheng Wang, Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Kecheng Zhu, Tianjiao Xia, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Tiecheng Wang, Tiecheng Wang, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Tianjiao Xia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Lingyan Zhu Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Kecheng Zhu, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Tiecheng Wang, Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Tiecheng Wang, Lingyan Zhu Tiecheng Wang, Tiecheng Wang, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Xuetao Guo, Hanzhong Jia, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Tiecheng Wang, Hanzhong Jia, Xuetao Guo, Lingyan Zhu

Summary

Four types of virgin microplastics were aged under simulated solar irradiation and analyzed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, finding that polystyrene and phenol-formaldehyde resin produced environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) that decayed slowly, while polyethylene and PVC did not. The study identifies photoaged plastic surfaces as a previously unrecognized source of EPFRs—emerging contaminants with known health risks.

Polymers

PE PS PVC

Microplastics (MPs) are presumed to be inert during aging under ambient conditions. In this study, four types of virgin MPs, including polystyrene (PS), phenol-formaldehyde resin (PF), polyethylene (PE), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), were aged under simulated solar light irradiation. Surprisingly, several environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs), which are considered to be a type of emerging contaminant, were detected on the irradiated PS and PF, rather than PE and PVC, by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Depending on the photoaging duration time, the characteristic g-factors of the EPFRs produced on PS and PF were 2.0044-2.0049 and 2.0043-2.0044, respectively. The generated EPFRs on PS and PF decayed rapidly at the initial stage and then slowly disappeared with the elapsed aging time. Analyses by attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) suggested that MPs might experience chemical chain scission, O2/H2O addition, and EPFR formation under the light irradiation. Accompanying with the formation of EPFRs, reactive oxygen species, such as O2•- and •OH, were also observed. The findings provide a novel insight to evaluate the potential hazards of MPs to organisms and ecosystems.

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