Characterization of microplastics and natural gas by infrared spectrometry andmultivariate modelling

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to explore the use of infrared spectrometry combined with the application of multivariate chemometric models to the quantification of the major components of natural gas and to the identification of plastic samples, both artificially aged and collected from coastal ecosystems. The articles presented here deal with different themes related with these topics. In particular: the application of IR-inert gases to improve the spectra of other gases of interest; a report evidencing a general absence of important specifications of the instrumental setup of environmental studies on microplastics, suggesting a minimum of information to be offered; and a study of the effects of aging in both the surface morphology and the spectral characteristics of polyamide 6.6. Finally, chemometric models have been developed to identify the main constituent polymers of microplastics and to quantify the major components of natural gas samples, as well as their Wobbe index.