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Partitioning of secondary organic aerosol onto nanoplastics leading to hygroscopic partially-engulfed particles

Environmental Science Atmospheres 2023 4 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 35 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Katrina L. Raincrow, Habeeb H. Al‐Mashala, Elijah G. Schnitzler

Summary

Researchers found that secondary organic aerosol derived from alpha-pinene partitions onto hydrophobic polystyrene nanoplastics in the atmosphere, forming partially-engulfed morphology particles that exhibit hygroscopic growth. The study reveals that nanoplastics can serve as condensation nuclei for organic aerosol formation, altering both the physical state of plastic particles and their atmospheric water-uptake behaviour.

Polymers

Partitioning of secondary organic aerosol from α-pinene onto hydrophobic polystyrene nanoplastics leads to partially-engulfed particles that undergo hygroscopic growth.

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