Abstract

End of life single-use items such as carrier bags constitute a large proportion of the litter found in marine and terrestrial environments. The main objective of the current work was to investigate the response of an oxo-biodegradable commercial plastic film product to photo-degradation using accelerated weathering, verifying the claim of its biodegradability and suitability as an eco-friendly product. This study is also geared towards the appropriateness of such products to reduce plastic waste accumulation in urban environments. The film samples were exposed to weathering as a means to determine the impact of UV induced oxo-biodegradation. Haze (%), light transmission (%) and the total change in colour (ΔE) were measured as indicators to the degradation profile of the polymeric materials, in addition to tensile pull mechanical properties and thermal stability. The melting peak indicates the melting point (T_m) of the polymer and with exposure to weathering it showed a slight decrease from 105 to 102 °C indicating that biodegradation mechanisms were triggered to a certain extent. The reduction in strain at rupture was also indicative for a loss in crystalline structure, coupled with Young’s modulus increase throughout the weathering exposure tests. Therefore, the material studied could be a candidate to mitigate the accumulation of plastic waste in open environments based on the results of this study whilst regulating controlled substances.

Graphical Abstract

中文翻译：

---

商业上可氧化降解的塑料的鉴定：为防止塑料废物积累而进行的紫外线诱导降解研究

摘要

报废的一次性物品（例如提包）占海洋和陆地环境中垃圾的大部分。当前工作的主要目的是研究可氧化的可生物降解的商用塑料薄膜产品对使用加速风化的光降解的反应，从而证实了其具有可生物降解性和作为环保产品的适用性的主张。这项研究还针对此类产品的适用性，以减少城市环境中的塑料废物积累。薄膜样品要经受风化，以确定紫外线引起的氧化生物降解的影响。测量雾度（％），透光率（％）和总颜色变化（ΔE），作为聚合物材料降解曲线的指标，除了拉伸拉机械性能和热稳定性。熔点峰表示熔点（T_m）的聚合物并暴露于风化条件下显示从105到102°C略有下降，表明在一定程度上引发了生物降解机理。断裂应变的降低还表明晶体结构的损失，以及在整个耐候暴露测试中杨氏模量的增加。因此，根据本研究的结果，在控制受控物质的同时，所研究的材料可能是减轻塑料废物在开放环境中累积的候选材料。

图形概要