Plastics Degradation Process within a Controlled Aqueous Laboratory Setting

Abstract

Following the growing interest in monitoring the status, behavior and impact of micropollutants in the environment, a significant area of concern revolves around the degradation of plastics, which is closely associated with a range of environmental risks. The long-term goal is to investigate the degradation process of plastics in an aqueous environment within controlled laboratory settings and analyze the status of degraded particles over a specific period. The proposed methodology, which is the subject of this paper, aims to achieve this objective. Over the period of one year, both conventional and biodegradable plastics are subjected to the combined effects of UV radiation and water motion. This paper presents the design of laboratory setting and experimental setup for conducting the degradation process. Based on its implementation, the degradation process is evaluated including weight loss and conducting microscopic and FTIR analysis of microplastic particles (MP). By gaining a better comprehension of these processes, we expect to be able to effectively mitigate the adverse environmental consequences caused by plastics.