Accuracy of biobased carbon content of determination of plastic products and related materials by accelerator mass spectrometry

Abstract

Biobased content of plastic products and related materials were determined according to ISO 16620 series. Biobased carbon content of sample was determined from percent modern carbon (pMC). pMC was determined by carbon-14 (14C) concentration measured by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The error of pMC was discussed. The error of biobased carbon content was also discussed in order to confirm repeatability, reproducibility and accuracy. The standard deviation of pMC of samples shown in this study is less than 1% except for rubber/polymer composite samples. The standard deviation of pMC of rubber/polymer composites is less than 3%. When the pMC of source material was employed as a reference of pMC, the derived biobased carbon content from pMC agree well with theoretical value within 3% error. Biobased synthetic polymer content of sample was determined from biobased carbon content. Biobased mass content of sample was determined from biobased carbon content. Accuracies of biobased synthetic polymer content and biobased mass content for composite samples with two components were less than 3%.