Gummel Jeremie, Roiter Yuri, Agostiniano Vincenzo, Goodall Kevin, Fratini Emiliano
Procter & Gamble Services, Temselaan 100, 1853 Strombeek-Bever, Belgium.
Procter and Gamble Company, 8700 S. Mason Montgomery Rd., Mason, Ohio 45040, United States.
ACS Omega. 2025 Apr 29;10(18):18840-18847. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.5c00692. eCollection 2025 May 13.
This study examines the conformation of soluble poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) in aqueous solution using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The focus is on PVA grades used in industrial water-soluble detergent films, comparing their behavior to nanometer-sized polystyrene (PS) beads. SAXS analysis indicates that soluble PVA chains adopt a single molecule random Gaussian coil conformation with a radius of gyration ( ) of approximately 14 nm, consistent across various grades, dissolution temperatures, and water hardness. DLS corroborates this single-molecule behavior, and AFM imaging confirms separated PVA chains. SAXS, DLS, and AFM collectively enhance understanding of PVA's behavior in solution. They provide distinguishing features (e.g., SAXS form factors, decay, decay; SAXS- and DLS-derived / ratio, AFM images) to aid in visualizing and differentiating between water-soluble polymers and micro- or nanoplastic polymers, which exhibit a hard interface. The study concludes that soluble PVA grades used in the detergent films maintain a stable single molecular chain conformation in water with a nonsolid interface, hence very different from known microplastics. This study also provides a basis for a methodology to differentiate the behavior of water-soluble polymers from microplastics.
本研究使用小角X射线散射（SAXS）、动态光散射（DLS）和原子力显微镜（AFM）研究了水溶性聚乙烯醇（PVA）在水溶液中的构象。重点是工业水溶性洗涤剂薄膜中使用的PVA等级，将它们的行为与纳米级聚苯乙烯（PS）珠进行比较。SAXS分析表明，可溶性PVA链采用单分子无规高斯线圈构象，其回转半径（ ）约为14 nm，在不同等级、溶解温度和水硬度下均一致。DLS证实了这种单分子行为，AFM成像证实了分离的PVA链。SAXS、DLS和AFM共同增强了对PVA在溶液中行为的理解。它们提供了区分特征（例如，SAXS形状因子、 衰减、 衰减；SAXS和DLS衍生的 / 比率、AFM图像），以帮助可视化和区分水溶性聚合物与具有硬界面的微塑料或纳米塑料聚合物。该研究得出结论，洗涤剂薄膜中使用的可溶性PVA等级在水中保持稳定的单分子链构象，具有非固体界面，因此与已知的微塑料非常不同。本研究还为区分水溶性聚合物与微塑料行为的方法提供了基础。
