comparison of extraction techniques
Petra Makorič (Author), Maryline Pflieger (Mentor)

Abstract

Plastic resin pellets are one of the main components of plastic fragments in the marine environment. They are small granules, generally cylinder or disk-shaped, with a diameter of a few millimetres used as industrial raw material for the production of plastic manufactured items. Resin pellets can be unintentionally released to the environment during manufacturing and transport, and can reach the ocean through processes such as surface run-off. Because of their environmental persistence, they are widely distributed in the oceans and on the beaches, all over the globe. Plastic pellets are also a sink of toxic compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that are present in the environment. During this thesis, we designed a protocol for extracting and analysing PCBs from marine plastic resin pellets. Although pressurized fluid extraction (PFE) is not commonly used in the field of microplastics, it is a reliable and efficient technique applied in other research areas. Thus, this method was tested in this work. PCBs were extracted from plastic pellets with PFE at 65 ºC and under 100 bar with hexane. Then, the extracts were concentrated to 1 mL, cleaned up on Florisil cartridge through solid-phase extraction. Prior to analysis on GC-ECD, the cleaned extracts were concentrated again. In the second part of the thesis, the following four extraction techniques of PCBs from plastic resin pellets were compared: Soxhlet extraction, PFE, ultrasonication and maceration. The obtain results have shown that the best efficiency and repeatability of extraction is achieved with PFE. In case of Soxhlet extraction, the results were unrepeatable. Maceration and ultrasonication had 40-45 % lower extraction efficiencies than PFE.

Keywords

PCB;plastic resin pellets;pressurized fluid extraction;Soxhlet;maceration;ultrasonication;microplastics;

Data

Language: English
Year of publishing:
Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
Organization: UNG FZO - Faculty of Environmental Sciences
Publisher: [P. Makorič]
UDC: 54
COBISS: 4822267 Link will open in a new window
Views: 4423
Downloads: 256
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Other data

Secondary language: Slovenian
Secondary title: Analiza polikloriranih bifenilov adsorbiranih na plastičnih granulatih: primerjava ekstrakcijskih tehnik
Secondary abstract: Plastični granulati so ena izmed glavnih sestavin plastičnih delcev v morskem okolju. To so majhne granule v obliki valja ali diska, s premerom nekaj milimetrov, ki se v industriji uporabljajo kot surovina za proizvodnjo plastičnih predmetov. Plastični granulati lahko med proizvodnjo in transportom nehote zaidejo v okolje, reke in morja in posledično zaradi morskih tokov dosežejo oceane. Zaradi njihove obstojnosti v okolju jih najdemo v oceanih in na obalah. Na plastične granulate se zlahka adsorbirajo toksične snovi prisotne v okolju, na primer poliklorirani bifenili (PCB). V okviru magistrskega dela sem izdelala protokol za ekstrakcijo in določanje PCB adsorbiranih na plastičnih granulatih vzorčenih na obmorskih plažah. Na področju mikroplastike visokotlačna tekočinska ekstrakcija (PFE) ni pogosto uporabljena metoda, a je znana kot zelo zanesljiva in učinkovita metoda na drugih raziskovalnih področjih. PFE metodo smo preizkusili za ekstrakcijo PCB-jev iz plastičnih granulatov, kjer so bili ekstrakcijski pogoji 100 bar in 65 °C, topilo uporabljeno pri ekstrakciji pa je bil heksan. Ekstrakt smo skoncentrirali na 1 mL, očistili na SPE Florisil kartuši, ter pred analizo na GC-ECD ponovno skoncentrirali na 1 mL. V drugem delu magistrskega dela smo primerjali štiri različne ekstrakcijske tehnike za ekstrakcijo PCB-jev iz plastičnih granulatov: Soxhlet ekstrakcijo, visokotlačno tekočinsko ekstrakcijo, ultrazvočno ekstrakcijo in maceracijo. Najboljši izkoristek ekstrakcije in najboljšo ponovljivost smo dosegli z visokotlačno tekočinsko ekstrakcijo. V primeru Soxhlet ekstrakcije rezultati niso bili ponovljivi. V primeru maceracije in ultrazvočne ekstrakcije pa je bil izkoristek ekstrakcije od 40 do 45 % nižji kot v primeru visokotlačne tekočinske ekstrakcije.
Secondary keywords: PCB;plastični granulati;ekstrakcija;visokotlačni tekočinski ekstraktor;Soxhlet;ultrazvočna ekstrakcija;maceracija;mikroplastika;magistrske naloge;
URN: URN:SI:UNG
Type (COBISS): Master's thesis/paper
Thesis comment: Univ. v Novi Gorici, Fak. za znanosti o okolju
Pages: X, 46 str.
ID: 10842130