Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik
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Organisationseinheit der BAM
- 6 Materialchemie (2) (entfernen)
There is growing interest in quantifying microplastics in environmental samples. This application note presents a thermal extraction desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) method that is well suited to automation and increased sample throughput. The method is also able to detect all particle sizes in the sample as long as the limit of detection (LOD) is reached and allows analysis of larger samples of 15 to 25 mg or more. Samples were decomposed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and the gaseous decomposition products were trapped on a solid-phase sorbent, followed by thermal desorption‑gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS) using an Agilent 5977B GC/MSD coupled to an Agilent 7890B GC. Target microplastic particle (MP) polymers were identified in environmental samples including surface water, finished compost, house dust, and drinking water. Quantification of MP polymers in environmental samples provided LODs of 0.06 to 2.2 μg, allowing the detection of MPs in trace amounts with sample weights of up to 1 g. Method repeatability was adequate for reliable quantification with RSDs of approximately 6 to 12%.
The TED-GC-MS analysis is a two-step method. A sample is first decomposed in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and the gaseous decomposition products are then trapped on a solid-phase adsorber. Subsequently, the solid-phase adsorber is analyzed with thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TDU-GC-MS). This method is ideally suited for the analysis of polymers and their degradation processes. Here, a new entirely automated System is introduced which enables high sample throughput and reproducible automated fractioned collection of decomposition products. Strengths and limitations of the system configuration are elaborated via three examples focused on practical challenges in materials analysis and identification: i) separate analysis of the components of a wood-plastic-composite material, ii) quantitative determination of weight concentration of the constituents of a polymer blend and iii) quantitative analysis of model samples of microplastics in suspended particulate matter.