Fig. 1: Impact of Polymer Morphology on NPL Formation.
From: Mechanism of quiescent nanoplastic formation from semicrystalline polymers
A Schematic illustration of chain scission in the amorphous regions of a semicrystalline polymer (red represents bridges, blue represents bridging entanglements). B–D SEM micrographs of solution samples obtained after 2 days of degradation of B aPP, C sPS and D iPP films in aqueous K2S2O8 at 70 °C. While the iPP and sPS samples clearly contain NPL, aPP appears to produce only liquid-like droplets which we postulate to be comprised of oligomeric degradation products that phase separate during solvent evaporation. E Size distributions of iPP and sPS NPL obtained after 2 days of degradation from SEM micrographs. The curves are guides to the eye. F, G Light scattering count rate as a function of time at an angle of 175° for F the oxidative degradation of iPP, aPP, sPS and aPS (dashed lines for aPP and aPS are averages of the scattering counts after 48 h of degradation) and for G the hydrolysis of PET. Error bars shown are the standard deviation of the mean.
