Table 3 Categories used to evaluate the impact of a treatment on the spectroscopic recognisability of the treated polymers. Exemplary spectra for each category can be found at the given page numbers in the respective data deposits: ^a Raman+FTIR_commodityPolymers.pdf, ^b Raman+FTIR_paintResins.pdf

0

no relevant changes, spectra identical within natural background noise levels

polymer recognition unhindered

p. 77 in [34]^a

p. 156 in [34]^a

1

changes in non-band spectral properties, i.e. baseline slope or elevation, fluorescence

polymer recognition unhindered, changes do not mask polymer bands

p. 44 in [34]^a

n/a

2

emergence of new bands or individual band intensities increased due to polymer degradation processes (e.g. oxidation)

polymer recognition largely unhindered, changes do not mask polymer bands

p. 23 in [34]^b

p. 11 in [34]^a

3

removal or strong alteration of polymer specific bands

polymer recognition is hindered

p. 20 in [34]^b

n/a

x

no polymer specific spectrum measurable independent of treatment

no evaluation possible

p. 31 in [34]^b

p. 41 in [34]^b