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Hydrophilic Fraction of Dissolved Organic Matter Largely Facilitated Microplastics Photoaging: Insights from Redox Properties and Reactive Oxygen Species
Environmental Science & Technology2024
44 citations
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Score: 60
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Jiehong He,
Jiehong He,
Weiwei Ma,
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Jiehong He,
Jiehong He,
Jiehong He,
Jiehong He,
Jiehong He,
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Zhifeng Yang,
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Chuanxin Ma,
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Chuanxin Ma,
Lanfang Han
Weiwei Ma,
Yanpeng Cai,
Lanfang Han
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Chuanxin Ma,
Yanpeng Cai,
Jiehong He,
Lanfang Han
Jiehong He,
Chuanxin Ma,
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Weiwei Ma,
Yanpeng Cai,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Yanpeng Cai,
Zhifeng Yang,
Jiehong He,
Chuanxin Ma,
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Jiehong He,
Chuanxin Ma,
Lanfang Han
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Chuanxin Ma,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Xiaoyu Guo,
Yanpeng Cai,
Lanfang Han
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Chuanxin Ma,
Chuanxin Ma,
Zhifeng Yang,
Yanpeng Cai,
Chuanxin Ma,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Zhifeng Yang,
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Lanfang Han
Lanfang Han
Chuanxin Ma,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Weiwei Ma,
Weiwei Ma,
Xiaoyu Guo,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Chuanxin Ma,
Yanpeng Cai,
Zhifeng Yang,
Yanpeng Cai,
Chuanxin Ma,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Chuanxin Ma,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Jiehong He,
Zhifeng Yang,
Chuanxin Ma,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Xiaoyu Guo,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Zhifeng Yang,
Yanpeng Cai,
Yanpeng Cai,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Chuanxin Ma,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Chuanxin Ma,
Yanpeng Cai,
Lanfang Han
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Zhifeng Yang,
Chuanxin Ma,
Chuanxin Ma,
Lanfang Han
Summary
This study investigated how dissolved organic matter in natural water affects the breakdown of microplastics by sunlight. The water-soluble fraction of organic matter was most effective at speeding up microplastic aging by generating reactive oxygen species that attack the plastic surface. This matters because faster breakdown of microplastics in the environment creates smaller, potentially more dangerous nanoplastic particles that can more easily enter living organisms.
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) exists widely in natural water, which inevitably influences microplastic (MP) photoaging. Nevertheless, the impacts of DOM fractions with diverse molecular structures on MP photoaging remain to be elucidated. This study explored the photoaging mechanisms of polylactic acid (PLA)-MPs and polystyrene (PS)-MPs in the presence of DOM and its subfractions (hydrophobic acid (HPOA), hydrophobic neutral (HPON), and hydrophilic (HPI)). Across DOM fractions, HPI exhibited the highest electron accepting capacity (23 μmol e<sup>-</sup> (mg C)<sup>-1</sup>) due to its abundant tannin-like species (36.8%) with carboxylic groups, which facilitated more reactive oxygen species generation (particularly hydroxyl radical), leading to the strongest photoaging rate of two MPs by HPI. However, the sequences of bond cleavage during photoaging of each MPs were not clearly shifted as revealed by two-dimensional infrared correlation spectra. Inconspicuous effects on the extent of PS- and PLA-MPs photoaging were observed for HPOA and HPON, respectively. This was mainly ascribed to the occurrence of inhibitory mechanisms (e.g., light-shielding and quenching effect) counteracting the reactive oxygen species-promoting effects. The findings identified the HPI fraction of DOM for promoting PS- and PLA-MPs photoaging rate and first constructed a link among DOM molecular structures, redox properties, and effects on MP photoaging.