Collaborative Research: CAS: Understanding Polymer Additive Release and Transformations in Aquatic Environments

这一奖项来自化学系环境化学科学项目，资助了科罗拉多矿业学院的詹姆斯·兰维尔教授和马里兰大学的霍华德·费尔布鲁克教授的合作项目。该团队研究了当塑料在环境中慢慢腐烂时，塑料中的添加剂会发生什么。在塑料制造过程中添加复杂的化合物以改善其性能，如耐用性、颜色和质地。这些添加剂的化学成分非常不同，既可以包括有机小分子，也可以包括含金属的有机化合物。塑料垃圾在水环境中的堆积是一个非常明显的问题，越来越受到全球的关注。当塑料与水接触或暴露在阳光下时，化学添加剂会慢慢释放到水中。在那里，它们可以进行化学转化，形成新的化合物。不幸的是，一些添加剂及其转化产物已被发现对环境和人类健康构成风险。这项研究的信息有助于提高我们对科学的理解，以指导减少对环境影响的新添加剂的设计。参与这项研究的学生获得了材料化学和环境科学方面的技能。K-12年级和大学级别的学生参加教育活动，例如亲身体验塑料的临终问题。该项目旨在对聚合物中添加剂的化学组成和物理特性如何影响添加剂在水环境中的释放和随后的光化学转化进行分子水平的了解。这些目标是通过测量选定的一组特性良好的添加剂/聚合物复合材料的添加剂释放动力学和吸附性能来实现的。此外，还使用一套高灵敏度的质谱学技术对光转化动力学和转化产物进行了测量。模型有机和有机金属化合物被用来检验假说，并建立与添加剂释放和光化学转化相关的结构活性关系。这些模型解决了添加剂的分子水平性质、聚合物与添加剂的相互作用以及聚合物表面性质的变化在决定添加剂在水环境中的行为方面的作用。结果可以推断到与水环境中的塑料污染相关的广泛的添加剂/聚合物组合。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award from the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program of the Division of Chemistry funds a collaborative project by Professor James Ranville at the Colorado School of Mines and Professor Howard Fairbrother at the University of Maryland. The team studies what happens to additives in plastics as the plastics slowly decay in the environment. Complex chemical compounds are added the during manufacturing of plastics to improve their properties, such as durability, color and texture. The chemical composition of these additives is very varied and can include small organic molecules as well as metal-containing organic compounds. The accumulation of plastic waste in aquatic environments is a highly visible problem of increasing global concern. When plastics are in contact with water or exposed to sunlight, the chemical additives are slowly released into the water. There they can undergo chemical transformation to form new compounds. Unfortunately, a number of additives and their transformation products have been found to pose a risk to the environment and to human health. Information from this study can help improve our understanding of the science to guide the design of new additives with reduced environmental impacts. The students involved in this research acquire skills in materials chemistry and environmental science. Students at the K-12 and university level participate in educational activities, such as hands-on experiences with end-of-life issues with plastics. The project aims to develop a molecular level understanding of how the chemical composition and physical characteristics of additives in polymers influence the release and subsequent photochemical transformations of additives in aqueous environments. These goals are accomplished by measuring additive release kinetics and sorption properties from a selected set of well characterized additive/polymer composites. This is complemented by measurements of phototransformation kinetics and transformation products using a suite of highly sensitive mass spectrometry techniques. Model organic and organometallic compounds are used to test hypotheses and develop structure activity relationships related to additive release and photochemical transformations. These models address the role of molecular level properties of additives, polymer-additive interactions, and changes in polymer surface properties in determining the behavior of additives in aqueous environments. The results can be extrapolated to a wide range of additive/polymer combinations relevant to plastic pollution in the aquatic environment.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.