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微塑料(MPs)指的是直径小于5 mm的塑料颗粒,纤维,薄膜和碎片[1],可分为原生MPs和次生MPs. 传统塑料对海洋生物以及对人类都构成巨大威胁,例如微塑料可作为三氯生的载体,对淡水微藻产生破坏[2]. 微米塑料和纳米塑料对哺乳动物会通过氧化应激,膜损伤,免疫反应和遗传毒性来诱导细胞毒性[3]. 暴露在微塑料中,会对男性生殖和精子质量存在有害影响[4]. 有研究者预计,直到2060年,MPs占塑料总重约13.2%[5],为了改变这一趋势,生物基、可生物降解塑料正在作为一种新的生态解决方案,以减少对环境的影响. 在各个领域,可生物降解塑料已被认为是不可生物降解塑料的替代品[6-8]. 然而,最近的研究表明,可生物降解MPs对有机污染物的吸附量显著高于不可生物降解塑料,从而具有更大的潜在环境风险[9-12]. 此外,相比于化学塑料聚合物,生物可降解MPs对植物生长可以构成更大的风险[13]. 现有的研究已经充分证明,塑料对环境的潜在风险,一方面是微小塑料的形成和添加剂的释放使塑料成为新的污染源;另一方面是其可以成为环境污染物的载体,参与有机和无机污染物的吸附、迁移、释放过程,甚至经食物和水进入人体,在人体组织中积聚,提高了人体暴露风险[14].
像不可生物降解塑料一样,可生物降解塑料在加工、贮存和使用过程中,由于受内外因素的综合作用发生老化反应,如光照、氧气、臭氧、热、水、机械应力、高能辐射等,这些反应往往伴随理化性质的改变. 老化行为除了可以加快添加剂的释放[15-16],还可以大大促进其污染物迁移能力的提高. 因此,老化过程塑料本身的变化需要引起研究者的重大关注. MPs的老化反应是塑料在环境中最为重要的转化过程,在这个过程中,MPs的形貌、表面特征以及微观结构会发生改变,从而影响MPs的环境行为[17]. 其中,光化学老化是最重要的一种自然老化过程[18]. MPs在太阳光,特别是太阳光中高能量UV-B(280—315 nm)和中能量UV-A(315 — 400 nm)照射下,会诱导MPs表面自由基的链式反应,从而发生加氧、脱氢、断键或者交联等反应[19].
目前,对可生物降解MPs的研究较少,且大部分文献都集中在对其毒性和污染物吸附解吸的研究上,有关可生物降解MPs老化研究鲜有报道[20]. 常见的可生物降解MPs有聚乳酸(PLA)、聚羟基脂肪酸酯(PHA)、聚丁二酸丁二醇酯(PBS)和聚对苯二甲酸-己二酸丁二酯(PBAT). 其中PLA和PHA是由自然物质生成的可生物降解塑料,PBS和PBAT是由石化原料生成的可生物降解塑料. PLA代表了最有希望的生物塑料之一,PLA和PBAT是可生物降解的塑料薄膜的常见成分[21],可以代替低密度聚乙烯(LDPE)薄膜;PHA常用于覆盖膜和包装材料,以最大程度地减少塑料浪费并减少土壤污染[22];PBS在可生物降解树脂的材料选择上最为成熟,产能也最大.
本研究选取了4种常见的可生物降解MPs为实验对象,利用傅立叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)和电子顺磁共振波谱(EPR)观察MPs在老化过程中旧键断裂和新键生成,同时采用高斯计算对四种图谱进行了计算和补充,旨在探究上述4种可生物降解MPs在自然光照下的老化过程和机理.
可生物降解微塑料的自然光解老化
Natural photo-aging of biodegradable microplastics
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摘要: 近年来,微塑料(MPs)污染问题受到人们的广泛关注. 可生物降解塑料被认为是常规的不可生物降解塑料的替代品,其产量和环境检出量显著增加. MPs的老化过程具有显著的环境行为和生态效应,而光照辐射在塑料老化和降解过程中起到主要作用. 然而,现有研究对可生物降解微塑料的自然光解老化过程及其机理的研究鲜有报道. 因此,本研究选取了4种常见的可生物降解微塑料为实验对象,分别为聚乳酸(PLA)、聚羟基脂肪酸酯(PHA)、聚丁二酸丁二醇酯(PBS)和聚对苯二甲酸-己二酸丁二酯(PBAT),旨在探究上述4种可生物降解微塑料在自然和模拟光照下的老化过程及潜在机理. 通过自然和模拟光解老化实验,利用傅立叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)和电子顺磁共振波谱(EPR)观察4种塑料在老化过程中旧键断裂和新键生成,发现在56 d的光老化过程中,PLA-MPs和PBS-MPs表面官能团含量并无显著变化,而随着老化时间的增加,PHA-MPs表面—C=C—的数量在增加,PBAT表面—C—O和C=O的数量在增加. 除了实验结果之外,分子模型构建和红外光谱计算等理论分析也为可降解MPs的自然光老化机理提供了理论支撑.
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关键词:
- 可生物降解微塑料 /
- 光老化 /
- 原位红外光谱 /
- 原位电子顺磁共振波谱.
Abstract: Over the recent past years, microplastics (MPs) have raised widespread public attention due to their potential environmental and health risks. In order to eliminate the environmental burden of plastics, biodegradable plastics are industrially produced and recognized as an alternative to conventional non-biodegradable plastics. While, vast production and consumption inevitably led to their widespread distributions in various environmental matrices. The aging effect could significantly change physiochemical properties and subsequent environmental behaviors of MPs. Amongst various aging treatments, light radiation plays a dominant role in MP formation and degradation. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate the natural photo-aging process and mechanism of biodegradable MPs. Therefore, four commonly used biodegradable MPs were selected in the present study, i.e., polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polybutylene succinate (PBS) and polyparaben phthalic acid-butylene adipate (PBAT), which were employed to explore the aging process and underlying mechanism of biodegradable microplastics under natural and simulated solar irradiation. Moreover, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) were used to monitor the breakage and formation of bonds during the aging process. It was found that the content of functional groups on the surface of PLA-MPs and PBS-MPs did not change significantly during the 56 d photoaging process, while the amount of —C=C— on the surface of PHA-MPs and the amount of —C—O and C=O on the surface of PBAT increased with the lengthening irradiation time. In addition to experimental results, the theoretical analysis including molecular model construction and infrared spectra calculation were performed to support the photo-aging mechanism of degradable MPs.-
Key words:
- biodegradable microplastics /
- photo-aging /
- in-situ FTIR /
- in-situ EPR.
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表 1 不同老化时间下环境条件的平均值.
Table 1. Average of environmental conditions at different aging times.
老化天数/d
Aging days空气温度/℃
Air temperature地面温度/℃
Ground temperatureUV-365 /(μW·cm−2)
Light intensity of UV-365空气湿度/%
Air humidity13 41.11 43.59 47.47 42.46 28 41.51 45.10 88.80 37.53 56 36.79 40.05 78.92 37.82 表 2 可生物降解微塑料的峰位置对应的官能团
Table 2. Functional groups corresponding to peak positions of biodegradable microplastics
波长/cm−1
Wavenumber官能团
Functional groupsPLA 3065 —OH 2946 —CH— 1721 —C=O 1271, 1169, 1121, 1019 C—O—C 875 O—CH—CH3 731 α—CH3 PHA 3685 —OH 1795 —C=O 1454 CH2弯曲模式 1380, 1358 CH3 980 CH2平面弯曲 PBS 1750 —C=O 1417 C-H弯曲 1174 C—O 1120 C—O—C 1039 O(CH2)4O 958 C-O 859 -CH2 670 COO PBAT 3073 —C—H伸缩 1444 CH2平面内弯曲 PBAT 1417 O—CH2 1372 CH2平面外弯曲 1291 C=O 1084 C—O 1039 =C—H苯环平面内弯曲 886, 742 =C—H苯环平面外弯曲 -
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