Comparative assessment of marine weathering of ROP-derived biopolymers against conventional plastics

Rodgers, Karen; Mayes, William M.; Santoro, Orlando; Redshaw, Carl; Mccumskay, Rick; Parsons, Daniel R.

Abstract

Bio-based plastics were designed to replace single-use plastics and to cause less post-consumer environmental damage. This paper assesses the weathering of four bio-based polymers created by ring opening polymerization (ROP) promoted by a previously reported Ti-based catalyst, to detect any problems before production was scaled up. Samples were aged in seawater to identify degradation products and monitor structural changes. Surfaces evidenced degradation and a range of leaching products was observed. Aside from compounds used in the preparation of the plastics (i.e. residual monomers and benzyl alcohol), the degradation products included carboxylic acids (often found in plastic leachate), oxacyclohexadecan-2-one (potentially toxic to aquatic life) and triphenylmethane (potential carcinogen). Overall, there were fewer structural changes in the fossil fuel based polymer (PS) and in the commercially available bio-based plastic studied for comparison purposes than the lab based bio-based polymers.

Citation

Rodgers, K., Mayes, W. M., Santoro, O., Redshaw, C., Mccumskay, R., & Parsons, D. R. (2021). Comparative assessment of marine weathering of ROP-derived biopolymers against conventional plastics. Marine pollution bulletin, 167, Article 112272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112272

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 14, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Mar 29, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Deposit Date: Mar 29, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 30, 2022
• Journal: Marine Pollution Bulletin
• Print ISSN: 0025-326X
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-3363
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 167
• Article Number: 112272
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112272
• Keywords: Plastic; Bio-based; Bioplastic; Weathering; Leaching; Seawater
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3746093