Recognition of Microplastic Aging Features Based on Multimodal Data Fusion and Attention Mechanisms

Microplastics undergo complex physicochemical changes during aging, which traditional single-modality methods struggle to explain. We analyzed 1371 samples across seven aging types using a deep learning model integrating SEM images and FT-IR data via multimodal fusion and attention mechanisms. The model achieved 96.4% validation accuracy, surpassing single-image (85.3%) and single-spectroscopy (47.8%) models. Attention mechanisms highlighted key features: chemical aging linked the C=O peak (1700–1750 cm⁻¹) to surface etching; UV aging associated the O-H peak (3300–3500 cm⁻¹) with dense cracks; physical aging connected C=C vibrations (1650–1680 cm⁻¹) to wear marks. The model performed robustly on complex aging samples, achieving an 80.9% dual-attribution success rate in UV scenarios. It identified UV degradation as the primary factor in natural aging (78.6% frequency) and indicated potential chemical degradation risks in paddy fields. Joint features were visualized via t-SNE and validated using Mahalanobis distance-based metric learning. This approach enhances our understanding of microplastic aging mechanisms and provides a foundation for linking laboratory observations with natural environmental conditions, supporting the development of methods for lifecycle management and ecological risk assessment of microplastics.