Alcohol Pretreatment to Eliminate the Interference of Micro Additive Particles in the Identification of Microplastics Using Raman Spectroscopy.

ABSTRACT: Raman spectroscopy is an indispensable tool in the analysis of microplastics smaller than 20 μm. However, due to its limitation, Raman spectroscopy may be incapable of effectively distinguishing microplastics from micro additive particles. To validate this hypothesis, we characterized and compared the Raman spectra of six typical slip additives with polyethylene and found that their hit quality index values (0.93-0.96) are much higher than the accepted threshold value (0.70) used to identify microplastics. To prevent this interference, a new protocol involving an alcohol treatment step was introduced to successfully eliminate additive particles and accurately identify microplastics. Tests using the new protocol showed that three typical plastic products (polyethylene pellets, polyethylene

SUBMITTER: Li D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9454250 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature