Photochemical Chain Scissions Enhance Polyethylene Glycol Biodegradability: from Probabilistic Modeling to Experimental Demonstration
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Date
2025-08-26
Publication Type
Journal Article
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yes
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Abstract
Polyethylene glycols (PEGs), a major class of water-soluble polymers (WSPs), are widely used in diverse applications, from which PEGs may be released into the environment. This work investigates the effect of PEG reaction with photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals (•OH), an important environmental oxidant, on the molecular weight (MW) distribution of PEGs and their subsequent biodegradation in soil and sediment. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrated a pronounced decrease in the PEG MW after only a few •OH-reaction-induced chain scissions on initial PEG molecules. The simulation results were validated by experimentally reacting 13C-labeled PEGs (
𝑀¯n
= 6380 ± 400 Da) with photochemically produced •OH to three extents and by analyzing the formed low MW PEG reaction products. Incubation of unreacted and •OH-reacted PEGs in both a sediment and a soil over 150 days demonstrated increasing rates and extents of PEG biodegradation into 13CO2 with increasing •OH-reaction extent and thus increasing amounts of low MW PEG products. This work underscores the importance of considering WSP MW distributions and dynamics caused by biotic or abiotic chain scission reactions when advancing a detailed understanding of WSP fate and biodegradability in natural and engineered receiving environments.
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published
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Journal / series
Volume
59 (33)
Pages / Article No.
17773 - 17784
Publisher
American Chemical Society
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Edition / version
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Date collected
Date created
Subject
Polyehylene glycol (PEG); Photochemical degradation; Hydroxyl radicals; Chain scission; Molecular weight distribution; Biodegradability; Soil; Sediment; Environmental fate
Organisational unit
03850 - McNeill, Kristopher / McNeill, Kristopher
03933 - Winkel, Lenny / Winkel, Lenny
09601 - Stoll, Heather / Stoll, Heather
08806 - Bernasconi, Stefano (Tit.-Prof.)