Abstract
Polyethylene glycols (PEGs) are used in industrial, medical, health care, and personal care applications. The cycling and disposal of synthetic polymers like PEGs pose significant environmental concerns. Detecting and monitoring PEGs in the real world calls for immediate attention. This study unveils the efficacy of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) as a reliable approach for precise analysis and identification of reference PEGs and PEGs used in cosmetic products. By comparing SIMS spectra, we show remarkable sensitivity in pinpointing distinctive ion peaks inherent to various PEG compounds. Moreover, the employment of principal component analysis effectively discriminates compositions among different samples. Notably, the application of SIMS two-dimensional image analysis visually portrays the spatial distribution of various PEGs as reference materials. The same is observed in authentic cosmetic products. The application of ToF-SIMS underscores its potential in distinguishing PEGs within intricate environmental context. ToF-SIMS provides an effective solution to studying emerging environmental challenges, offering straightforward sample preparation and superior detection of synthetic organics in mass spectral analysis. These features show that SIMS can serve as a promising alternative for evaluation and assessment of PEGs in terms of the source, emission, and transport of anthropogenic organics.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 14980 |
| Journal | Scientific Reports |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2024 |
Funding
Experimental efforts were supported by the strategic Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) of the Physical Sciences Directorate of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) (Grant No. 11167). Preparation of the manuscript was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management (EM) program award 277636. ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U. S. DOE under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by Battelle Memorial Institute under Contract No. DE-AC05-76RL01830. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. DOE. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).
Keywords
- Cosmetic product
- Environmental polymer
- Polyethylene glycols (PEGs)
- Principal component analysis (PCA)
- Spectral signature
- ToF-SIMS