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Exposure Order to Photoaging and Humic Acids Significantly Modifies the Aggregation and Transformation of Nanoplastics in Aqueous Solutions

Environmental Science & Technology 2023 41 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 60 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Yaru Han, Fei Lian, Fei Lian, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Yaru Han, Fei Lian, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Yikang Zhang, Jiaqi Li, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Binbin Sun, Binbin Sun, Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zexuan Geng, Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zexuan Geng, Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Jiaqi Li, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Zhenyu Wang, Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing Baoshan Xing

Summary

Researchers discovered that the order in which nanoplastics are exposed to sunlight and natural organic matter significantly changes how they clump together and behave in water. Nanoplastics aged by sunlight before encountering humic acids behaved differently than those exposed in the reverse order. This finding is important for predicting how nanoplastics actually move and persist in real-world water environments.

Polymers

PET

Study Type Environmental

The colloidal stability of nanoplastics in aqueous solutions is greatly regulated by photoaging and dissolved organic matter (DOM). However, how the exposure order to sunlight and DOM modifies the environmental behavior of nanoplastics is seldomly determined. Here, with two different exposure orders, we investigated the impact of molecular-weight (MW)-fractionated humic acids (HAs) derived from biochar and the Suwannee River, respectively, on the aggregation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) nanoplastics (PET-NPs) in mono- and divalent electrolyte solutions. For exposure pattern (i) (photoaging followed by HA coating), photoaged PET-NPs had more oxidized surfaces and exhibited 22–320% higher binding affinity to HAs (especially the higher MW fractions) than the pristine counterparts, which greatly improved the dispersion of PET-NPs. For exposure pattern (ii) (HA coating followed by photoaging), HA-PET assemblies were formed, the dispersion of which increased with increasing irradiation time and was significantly higher than that of the samples in the exposure pattern (i) at the end of the experiment. This high dispersion of photoaged HA-PET assemblies was ascribed to the extra oxidation of PET by reactive oxygen species generated in the PET-HA interfaces during photoaging. These findings highlight the “active nature” of HA-PET assemblies, which provide new insight into the reaction of HA with nanoplastics beyond adsorption in the natural environment.

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