5 Werkstofftechnik
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Erscheinungsjahr
- 2018 (2)
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- Englisch (2)
Schlagworte
- Analysis (1)
- BTEX (1)
- Degradation (1)
- Microplastics (1)
- Polypropylene (1)
- Polystyrene (1)
- Soil sample (1)
- Sorption (1)
- TED-GC-MS (1)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
- 5.3 Polymere Verbundwerkstoffe (2) (entfernen)
Microplastics are increasingly entering marine, limnic and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, where they sorb hydrophobic organic contaminants. Here, the sorption behavior of the fuel-related water contaminants benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene (BTEX) and four tertiary butyl ethers to virgin and via UV radiation aged polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) pellets was investigated. Changes in material properties due to aging were recorded using appropriate polymer characterization methods, such as differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and microscopy.
Pellets were exposed to water containing BTEX and the ethers at 130-190 mg/L for up to two weeks.
Aqueous sorbate concentrations were determined by headspace gas chromatography. Sorption to the polymers was correlated with the sorbate's Kow and was significant for BTEX and marginal for the ethers.
Due to substantially lower glass transition temperatures, PP showed higher sorption than PS. Aging had no effect on the sorption behavior of PP. PS sorbed less BTEX after aging due to an oxidized surface layer.
The presence, fate and effects of microplastics (MP) in terrestrial systems are largely unknown. The few existing studies investigated either agricultural or industrial sites. Several techniques were used for analysis, primarly spectroscopic methods such as FTIR or Raman. Sample pretreatments like density separations are common to reduce matrix. A lack of harmonised and standardised sampling instructions for microplastic investigations in the terrestrial area was identified as particular critical, because different studies are barely comparable.
The aim of the project is to develop a proposal for a harmonized procedure for sampling, sample preparation and the detection of microplastics in terrestrial matrices for total content determination. By detecting specific degradation products the thermal extraction desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TED-GC-MS) allows a direct determination of mass content of MP in environmental samples.