| Title | Effects and Impacts of Different Oxidative Digestion Treatments on Virgin and Aged Microplastic Particles |
| Abstract | Although several sample preparation methods for analyzing microplastics (MPs) in
environmental matrices have been implemented in recent years, important uncertainties and
criticalities in the approaches adopted still persist. Preliminary purification of samples, based on
oxidative digestion, is an important phase to isolate microplastics from the environmental matrix;
it should guarantee both efficacy and minimal damage to the particles. In this context, our study
aims to evaluate Fenton's reaction digestion pre-treatment used to isolate and extract microplastics
from environmental matrices. We evaluated the particle recovery efficiency and the impact of the
oxidation method on the integrity of the MPs subjected to digestion considering different particles'
polymeric composition, size, and morphology. For this purpose, two laboratory experiments were
set up: the first one to evaluate the efficacy of various digestion protocols in the MPs extraction from
a complex matrix, and the second one to assess the possible harm of different treatments, differing
in temperatures and volume reagents used, on virgin and aged MPs. Morphological,
physicochemical, and dimensional changes were verified by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
and Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The findings of the first experiment showed
the greatest difference in recovery rates especially for polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene
terephthalate particles, indicating the role of temperature and the kind of polymer as the major
factors influencing MPs extraction. In the second experiment, the SEM analysis revealed
morphological and particle size alterations of various entities, in particular for the particles treated
at 75 °C and with major evident alterations of aged MPs to virgin ones. In conclusion, this study
highlights how several factors, including temperature and polymer, influence the integrity of the
particles altering the quality of the final data. |
| Source | Polymers (Basel) |
| Keywords | microplastics; oxidative digestion; Fenton's reagent; virgin; aged; weathering; SEM; FTIR |
| Journal | Polymers (Basel) |
| Editor | Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, |
| Year | 2022 |
| Type | Articolo in rivista |
| Authors | Ilaria Savino, Claudia Campanale, Pasquale Trotti, Carmine Massarelli, Giuseppe Corriero, Vito Felice Uricchio |
| Text | 467072 2022 microplastics; oxidative digestion; Fenton s reagent; virgin; aged; weathering; SEM; FTIR Effects and Impacts of Different Oxidative Digestion Treatments on Virgin and Aged Microplastic Particles Ilaria Savino, Claudia Campanale, Pasquale Trotti, Carmine Massarelli, Giuseppe Corriero, Vito Felice Uricchio CNR IRSA Although several sample preparation methods for analyzing microplastics MPs in environmental matrices have been implemented in recent years, important uncertainties and criticalities in the approaches adopted still persist. Preliminary purification of samples, based on oxidative digestion, is an important phase to isolate microplastics from the environmental matrix; it should guarantee both efficacy and minimal damage to the particles. In this context, our study aims to evaluate Fenton s reaction digestion pre treatment used to isolate and extract microplastics from environmental matrices. We evaluated the particle recovery efficiency and the impact of the oxidation method on the integrity of the MPs subjected to digestion considering different particles polymeric composition, size, and morphology. For this purpose, two laboratory experiments were set up the first one to evaluate the efficacy of various digestion protocols in the MPs extraction from a complex matrix, and the second one to assess the possible harm of different treatments, differing in temperatures and volume reagents used, on virgin and aged MPs. Morphological, physicochemical, and dimensional changes were verified by Scanning Electron Microscope SEM and Fourier Transformed Infrared FTIR spectroscopy. The findings of the first experiment showed the greatest difference in recovery rates especially for polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate particles, indicating the role of temperature and the kind of polymer as the major factors influencing MPs extraction. In the second experiment, the SEM analysis revealed morphological and particle size alterations of various entities, in particular for the particles treated at 75 °C and with major evident alterations of aged MPs to virgin ones. In conclusion, this study highlights how several factors, including temperature and polymer, influence the integrity of the particles altering the quality of the final data. Published version Polymers_2022 polymers 14 01958.pdf Articolo in rivista Molecular Diversity Preservation International 2073 4360 Polymers Basel Polymers Basel Polymers Basel Polymers. Basel claudiacampanale CAMPANALE CLAUDIA SAVINO ILARIA vitofelice.uricchio URICCHIO VITO FELICE carmine.massarelli MASSARELLI CARMINE |
