Abstract
The ubiquitous presence of microplastics in the environment has raised serious concern, and several studies have been carried out in this regard. This study aimed to develop a method for producing microplastics in the micrometre range for various biological tests, where the morphology and constituents of the microplastics were guaranteed. The proposed production system was a pin-on-disc abrasive machine, where a pin made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was pressed onto a quartz glass disc under saline solution lubrication. Four types of micro-abrasive glass surfaces were prepared with the objective of generating particles with various morphologies. Flake-shaped, spherical or strap-shaped, and both spherical and flake-shaped microplastics were obtained using PET, PP, and PVC pins, respectively. PET, PP, and PVC had modal diameter ranges of 38.8–100.6 μm, 0.050–532.3 μm, and 62.5–675.3 μm, respectively. With the use of a higher abrasive-glass surface, the modal diameter of PET, PP, and PVC microplastics gradually decreased, increased, and increased, respectively. These production mechanisms were discussed in terms of the characteristics of each material (PET, PP, and PVC) and the roles of adhesive and abrasive wear, which were influenced by the pattern of the abrasive-glass surface.
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