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A charge-regulated framework for microplastic aggregation and removal
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Tiny plastic particles remain in treated wastewater even after standard treatment. Researchers measured these particles at several treatment plants and tested a charged chemical additive that caused lab-made plastic particles to clump together, and applying this method to real wastewater removed up to 90% of remaining microplastics, reaching about 99% total removal.
Abstract Microplastics persist in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents despite high overall inherent removal efficiencies, primarily due to their colloidal stability and resistance to gravitational settling. This study integrates field-scale profiling with mechanistic investigations to elucidate how charge-regulated interactions influence microplastic aggregation and removal. Using laser infrared imaging, we quantify the abundance, composition, and morphology of microplastics across multiple WWTPs and reveal a persistent fraction of sub-250 µm particles in treated effluents. To clarify the underlying physicochemical mechanisms, model polystyrene nanoplastics are treated with a cationic metal-organic complex to induce aggregation. Dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements indicate a non-monotonic, re-entrant transition from dispersion to aggregation, followed by re-stabilization, governed by charge neutralization and inversion. Small-angle neutron scattering reveals the formation of surface-fractal aggregates near charge neutrality, linking interparticle interactions to mesoscale structure. Based on this mechanistic framework, targeted charge compensation in real wastewater has been shown to induce rapid aggregation and facilitate the removal of up to 90% of residual microplastics, resulting in an overall removal efficiency approaching 99%. Our findings establish charge-regulated aggregation as a strategy to overcome colloidal stability in microplastic-laden effluents and provide a physicochemical foundation for improving existing wastewater treatment processes.
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