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  4. Natural and simulated weathering of polystyrene: A molecular view of the polymeric interface
 
research article

Natural and simulated weathering of polystyrene: A molecular view of the polymeric interface

Borgmeyer, Tobias  
•
Zhou, Lu  
•
Breider, Florian  
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October 15, 2024
Science of The Total Environment

This work presents the changing abundance of surface functional groups (SFGs) on polystyrene (PS) upon weathering within one or a few molecular monolayers from a molecular point of view. PS particles were aged by exposing it to a gas flow of typically (5 %) O3 in O2 (PSO3), UV radiation using a solar simulator under controlled conditions in the laboratory (PSSS) and to the water/air interface immerged in a freshwater lake for 2 months (PSL). The chemical composition of the interface of weathered, compared to pristine (virgin or PSV) material was established using a titration technique that probed the chemical composition of the molecular interface of the polymer. The main conclusions of this exploratory study are: (a) The interface of PS changes significantly compared to ATR-FTIR spectra that do not show additional absorptions in the mid-IR spectrum over a penetration depth of more than hundred monolayers at 10 μm; (b) The average surface functionalization of the gas-solid interface, corresponding to the sum of all examined types of SFG, increases from 20 % of a monolayer for PSV to 40, 50 and 84 % for PSL, PSO3 and PSSS, respectively; (c) in all cases the most important SFG was surface -OH ranging from 11.2 to 64 % for PSV and PSSS, respectively; (d) each PS sample shows a characteristic SFG pattern or fingerprint using several probe gases; (e) O3 interaction led to interface acidification; (f) UV treatment leads to the highest degree of surface -OH functionalization compared to PSO3 and PSL. The accumulation of SFG's renders the interface more reactive towards adsorption of probe gases.

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Type
research article
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174609
Author(s)
Borgmeyer, Tobias  

EPFL

Zhou, Lu  
Breider, Florian  

EPFL

Rossi, Michel  

EPFL

Ludwig, Christian  

EPFL

Date Issued

2024-10-15

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Published in
Science of The Total Environment
Volume

947

Article Number

174609

Subjects

Interface

•

Microplastics

•

Flow reactor

•

Aging

•

Molecular composition of interface

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
GR-LUD  
GR-CEL  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

ETH Zurich

EPFL project GR-LUD

0234

China Scholarship Council

202006120363

Available on Infoscience
August 5, 2024
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/240569
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