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Hydrogen Peroxide Plastic Whitening Mechanism
On the Mechanism of Hydrogen Peroxide Whitening Plastics
Existing plastics are exposed to the outside for a long time, and their color gradually darkens. People often use hydrogen peroxide to make their color white again. The mechanism should be investigated in detail.
Hydrogen peroxide, its molecular formula is $H_2O_2 $, is active. In making plastics white, there are the following reasons.
First, hydrogen peroxide has strong oxidizing properties. The color change of plastics is often due to foreign matter contamination or self-aging, resulting in colored impurities or structural changes. The oxygen atom of hydrogen peroxide is easy to obtain electrons, and can oxidize and react with colored substances on the surface or inside of plastics. For example, some organic pigments have a specific unsaturated bond structure, and hydrogen peroxide can break their bonds and oxidize them into smaller molecules or colorless substances, so the color of plastics is light.
Second, hydrogen peroxide decomposes to produce reactive oxygen species. When hydrogen peroxide is placed on plastics, it will slowly decompose due to environmental factors such as light and temperature, generating reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl radical ($\ cdot OH $). These reactive oxygen species have strong oxidation ability and can quickly react with the dirt and color quality on the plastic surface, causing its structure to change, and then fade and turn white.
Third, hydrogen peroxide can interact with certain groups on the plastic surface. There are different chemical groups on the surface of plastics, and hydrogen peroxide can react with them or change their surface properties to change light reflection and scattering. When the plastic surface groups react, they reflect light more evenly, and visually feel that the color of the plastic becomes lighter and approaches white.
From this perspective, hydrogen peroxide can make plastics white due to its strong oxidation, the active oxygen species produced by decomposition, and the interaction with the plastic surface groups. This is the mechanism by which hydrogen peroxide makes plastics white.
Existing plastics are exposed to the outside for a long time, and their color gradually darkens. People often use hydrogen peroxide to make their color white again. The mechanism should be investigated in detail.
Hydrogen peroxide, its molecular formula is $H_2O_2 $, is active. In making plastics white, there are the following reasons.
First, hydrogen peroxide has strong oxidizing properties. The color change of plastics is often due to foreign matter contamination or self-aging, resulting in colored impurities or structural changes. The oxygen atom of hydrogen peroxide is easy to obtain electrons, and can oxidize and react with colored substances on the surface or inside of plastics. For example, some organic pigments have a specific unsaturated bond structure, and hydrogen peroxide can break their bonds and oxidize them into smaller molecules or colorless substances, so the color of plastics is light.
Second, hydrogen peroxide decomposes to produce reactive oxygen species. When hydrogen peroxide is placed on plastics, it will slowly decompose due to environmental factors such as light and temperature, generating reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl radical ($\ cdot OH $). These reactive oxygen species have strong oxidation ability and can quickly react with the dirt and color quality on the plastic surface, causing its structure to change, and then fade and turn white.
Third, hydrogen peroxide can interact with certain groups on the plastic surface. There are different chemical groups on the surface of plastics, and hydrogen peroxide can react with them or change their surface properties to change light reflection and scattering. When the plastic surface groups react, they reflect light more evenly, and visually feel that the color of the plastic becomes lighter and approaches white.
From this perspective, hydrogen peroxide can make plastics white due to its strong oxidation, the active oxygen species produced by decomposition, and the interaction with the plastic surface groups. This is the mechanism by which hydrogen peroxide makes plastics white.
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