PlastiTrax® Simulated Aging Kit
| Under Development |
The Simulated Aging Kit contains UV-degraded particles of various polymer types and sizes. These are essential as UV degradation leads to spectral changes, making the particles harder to detect during analysis.
With this kit, you can verify whether your workflow is capable of identifying degraded particles and expand your spectral database with altered spectra. It provides a valuable foundation for validating your analyses and improving the detection rate of microplastic particles in various states.
UV-degradation of polypropylene
The exemplary spectrum of a single polypropylene (PP) particle exposed to UV radiation over a period of 40 days shows significant spectral changes. Over time, new absorption bands emerge, indicating the formation of carbonyl groups (C=O). These changes are characteristic of oxidative processes that occur during UV exposure.
The carbonyl groups typically appear in the region of 1700 cm⁻¹ and are a clear indicator of the chemical modification of the PP material. Such changes have a significant impact on the polymer's identifiability, as the original spectra of non-degraded polymers no longer fully match the altered ones.
The Simulated Aging Kit serves two critical applications, making it an indispensable tool in microplastic analysis:
1. Testing analytical methods
UV-degraded and weathered particles exhibit significant spectral changes due to degradation, distinguishing them from non-degraded polymers. The kit allows you to test whether your analytical method can reliably identify such degraded particles, ensuring that no critical microplastics remain undetected.
2. Expanding the spectral database
Degraded polymers show unique spectral features, such as the formation of carbonyl groups, which must be accounted for in analyses. The kit enables you to integrate aged spectra into your existing database, enhancing detection rates and making the database more robust for future analyses.
The Simulated Aging Kit thus lays the groundwork for more accurate and comprehensive analyses of microplastic samples in various states.
PlastiTrax® Simulated Aging Kit
| Particle number | Polymer type | Particle shape
As usual, the Simulated Aging Kit is available in two different particle size ranges: 25–50 µm and larger than 50 µm. It includes all priority polymers (PP, PE, PMMA, PC, PET, PS, PVC, PU), except for PTFE and PA. This variety allows for flexible applications of the kit, tailored to different analytical needs and scenarios, and provides a comprehensive basis for studying aged microplastic particles.
