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Variable Non-Gaussian Transport of Nanoplastic on Supported Lipid Bilayers in Saline Conditions
Summary
Single-particle tracking experiments revealed that polystyrene nanoplastics display non-Gaussian, anomalous transport behavior on supported lipid bilayer membranes in a salt-dependent manner, shedding light on how nanoplastics interact with biological membranes.
Nanoplastic-lipid interaction is vital to understanding the nanoscale mechanism of plastic adsorption and aggregation on a lipid membrane surface. However, a single-particle mechanistic picture of the nanoplastic transport process on a lipid surface remains unclear. Here, we report a salt-dependent non-Gaussian transport mechanism of polystyrene particles on a supported 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) lipid bilayer surface. Particle stickiness on the POPC surface increases with salt concentration, where the particles stay longer at the surface and diffuse to shorter distances. Additionally, a non-Gaussian diffusion state dominates the transport process at high salt concentrations. Our current study provides insight into the transport mechanism of polystyrene (PS) particles on supported lipid membranes, which is essential to understanding fundamental questions regarding the adsorption mechanisms of nanoplastics on lipid surfaces.
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