Major
Chemistry
Anticipated Graduation Year
2023
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Aqueous Plastic debris is known to absorb persistent organic pollutants Previous work done in our lab shows that triclosan and methyltriclosan will undergo photolysis 25X faster on the surface of plastics compared to them in water. We are studying the photolysis of different aromatic flame retardants in the presence of plastic beads and other types of debris. We have found that the photolytic degradation of the flame retardants occurs via the displacement of halogen atoms by hydroxide ions in solution. The rate of this nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction is faster on the surface plastic than in water alone. We are also exploring how pH affects the rate of reaction as well.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Ph.D M. Paul Chiarelli, Xiolmara Martinez
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Plastic Mediated Photolysis of Halogenated Flame Retardants in Aqueous Solutions
Aqueous Plastic debris is known to absorb persistent organic pollutants Previous work done in our lab shows that triclosan and methyltriclosan will undergo photolysis 25X faster on the surface of plastics compared to them in water. We are studying the photolysis of different aromatic flame retardants in the presence of plastic beads and other types of debris. We have found that the photolytic degradation of the flame retardants occurs via the displacement of halogen atoms by hydroxide ions in solution. The rate of this nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction is faster on the surface plastic than in water alone. We are also exploring how pH affects the rate of reaction as well.