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Perspective into bio-fouled microplastic behaviour, transportation and characterization in water bodies
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This review examines how biofouling alters the physicochemical properties of microplastics — including density, surface charge, hydrophobicity, and roughness — and how the resulting 'plastisphere' biofilm community reshapes microplastic transport dynamics, vertical flux, and long-term fate in aquatic systems.
Biofouling on microplastics (MPs) has emerged as a key driver shaping their environmental behavior, yet its mechanisms and implications remain insufficiently resolved. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the formation, development, and ecological significance of the plastisphere, which is the complex biofilm community that colonizes MPs. This review examines how biofouling alters MP physicochemical properties, including density, surface charge, hydrophobicity, and roughness, leading to profound changes in transport dynamics, vertical flux, and long-term fate in aquatic systems. The review further analyzes the mechanisms of biofilm development, macrofouling contributions, and biofilm-mediated interactions with chemical contaminants, highlighting how biofouled MPs become reactive vectors for metals, pathogens, and hydrophobic organic pollutants. Key environmental and polymer-specific factors governing biofouling are evaluated alongside recent advances in microscopy, spectroscopy, and molecular tools for biofilm characterization. Persistent gaps including inconsistent methodologies and the absence of standardized protocols are identified as major constraints to cross-study comparability. By integrating insights from ecology, materials science, and environmental engineering, this review outlines a forward-looking research and methodological roadmap to improve prediction, detection, and mitigation of biofoul-driven transformations of MPs. Overall, this work highlights biofouling as a critical but under-addressed determinant of MP persistence and ecological risk in freshwater and marine environments.
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Biofilm formation and its implications on the properties and fate of microplastics in aquatic environments: A review
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics in water attract and support communities of bacteria and other microorganisms that form biofilms — living coatings that alter the plastic particles' movement, help them carry pathogens, and affect how toxic chemicals attached to the plastic are absorbed by living things. Understanding this "plastisphere" ecosystem is critical for predicting where microplastics go and how harmful they become.
Impacts of Biofilm Formation on the Fate and Potential Effects of Microplastic in the Aquatic Environment
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Researchers reviewed how biofilm formation on microplastic surfaces affects the fate and potential ecological effects of microplastics in aquatic environments, finding that biofilms alter particle buoyancy, surface chemistry, and interactions with organisms.
Impact of Biofilm Formation on Microplastic Behaviour in Aquatic Environments: An Comprehensive Review.
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This review examines how biofilms — communities of microorganisms that coat microplastics — change the behavior of plastic particles in aquatic environments, affecting how they move, sink, and interact with ecosystems. Understanding biofilm formation on microplastics is key to predicting where these particles end up and what risks they pose to water quality and aquatic life.
Microplastic-Associated Biofilms and Their Role in the Fate of Microplastics in Aquatic Environment
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This review examines how microbial biofilms attached to microplastics in aquatic environments mediate the accumulation and transfer of chemical pollutants, exploring how the 'plastisphere' community influences the fate and ecotoxicological impact of microplastics and co-contaminants.
The effects of plastisphere on the physicochemical properties of microplastics
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This review examines how the communities of microorganisms that colonize microplastic surfaces, known as the plastisphere, change the physical and chemical properties of the plastic particles. Researchers found that biofouling increases microplastic density causing them to sink, enhances their ability to absorb pollutants, and alters their surface chemistry. The study highlights that microplastics in the real environment behave very differently from the pristine particles typically used in laboratory experiments.
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