Team

Assessment of the degradation of (bio)plastics in soil microcosms using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

Recently, biodegradable plastic mulch films have been increasingly used in agriculture to reduce the environmental plastic reflection. Yes, little information exists on their degradation including changes in their surface aging. In this study, microplastic (~ 430 μm) and macroplastic (~ 1 cm) particles from two biodegradable plastic mulch films, polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) and starch-based biodegradable (SBB) and from conventional polyethylene (PE) have been mixed according to 0.01 % (mass basis) into soil microcosms, which have been incubated in a climate chamber. After certain times, soil microcosms are sampled, plastics extracted, and the recoveries and changes in the surface aging analysed.

Supervisors: Dr. Kai Nitzsche & Prof. Dr. Moritz Bigalke