2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
The study of amorphous and crystalline microplastics in the Japanese atmosphere
| Project/Area Number |
22K18041
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| Research Institution | Shimane University |
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Principal Investigator |
長門 豪 島根大学, 学術研究院環境システム科学系, 助教 (50793832)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | microplastics / polymer crystallinity / FTIR / Raman spectroscopy / Atmospheric pollution / Air sampling / Polyethylene / Coastal pollution |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Research has been centered on the creation of amorphous and crystalline plastics for later use in adsorption tests, as well as studying the extent to which these types of plastics exist in the environment.
For the former, plastics such as polyethylene and PET have been used for creating crystalline/amorphous standards using various melt/freeze cycles. Methods for the analyses of these plastics have been examined using both Raman spectroscopy and FTIR.
In studies of environmental plastics, the change in polymers such as polyethylene and PET have been observed, with general increases in crystallinity and formation of carbonyl groups on the surface of plastics exposed to uv over long periods outdoors. The crystallinity of PET bottles is not uniform, with the tops and bottoms of bottles being more amorphous. This has implications for the extent of environmental degradation expected to occur. As expected, polyethylene was comparatively more resistant to degradation.
Atmospheric sampling is currently ongoing, with various types of filters being tested to understand which is best for sampling in remote locations.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Current research has mostly been preliminary and in service of the later gas to surface adsorption tests, as well as the combustion tests that will be performed in years 2 and 3 of the project. Project is largely on track.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The next phase of research will be moving towards making a setup for the burning of plastics to see if the types of polymer change differ from that observed in the environment (i.e. if crystallinity/amorphousness) are affected. While the combustion component of the research is ongoing , the adsorption experiments using various types of PAHs will be set up and tested. This will require extensive quality testing (i.e. gas flow, evaporation of PAHs, et cetera). Ultimately analyses will be performed with GCMS and an extraction procedure of contaminants from plastic surfaces will need to be developed.
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