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Combined effects of photoaging and natural organic matter on the colloidal stability of nanoplastics in aquatic environments

Water Research 2022 38 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 40 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Yanghui Xu, Yanghui Xu, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Yanghui Xu, Yanghui Xu, Yanghui Xu, Yanghui Xu, Xintu Wang, Qin Ou, Yanghui Xu, Qin Ou, Xintu Wang, Yanghui Xu, Yanghui Xu, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Yanghui Xu, Yanghui Xu, Yanghui Xu, Xintu Wang, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Qin Ou, Xintu Wang, Qin Ou, Xintu Wang, Xintu Wang, Xintu Wang, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Gang Liu Jan Peter van der Hoek, Gang Liu Qin Ou, Xintu Wang, Xintu Wang, Xiaoming Li, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Xintu Wang, Qin Ou, Yanghui Xu, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Xintu Wang, Gang Liu Gang Liu Gang Liu Xintu Wang, Gang Liu Jan Peter van der Hoek, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Jan Peter van der Hoek, Gang Liu Gang Liu Jan Peter van der Hoek, Gang Liu Gang Liu Gang Liu Gang Liu Jan Peter van der Hoek, Gang Liu

Summary

Researchers found that photoaging of polystyrene nanoplastics alters how natural organic matter interacts with their surfaces — reducing humic acid adsorption while increasing protein adsorption — with downstream effects on the nanoplastics' stability and transport in aquatic environments.

Polymers

The transport and fate of nanoplastics (NPs) in aquatic environments are closely associated with their colloidal stability, which is affected by aging and natural organic matter (NOM) adsorption. This study systematically investigated the combined effects of photoaging and NOM (e.g. humic acids, HA; and a model protein, bovine serum albumin, BSA) on the aggregation kinetics of NPs (polystyrene, PS) in NaCl and CaCl<sub>2</sub> solutions. Our results showed that photoaged NPs adsorbed less HA than pristine NPs due to weaker hydrophobic and π-π interactions. In return, HA showed weaker impacts on NPs' stability after photoaging. Differently, photoaged NPs absorbed more BSA than pristine NPs due to stronger hydrogen bonding and electrostatic attraction. Thus, the inhibitory effects of BSA on the aggregation kinetics of NPs were enhanced after photoaging. Regarding the effects of NOM on the aging of NPs, our results showed that HA competed with NPs for photons and underwent photo-degradation. Subsequently, the destruction/reconstruction of adsorbed HA increased (in NaCl) or decreased (in CaCl<sub>2</sub>) the stability of NPs. Notably, light radiation-induced flocculation of BSA molecules, which wrapped and integrated NPs and lead to their destabilization. Overall, this study provided new insights into the aggregation behavior of NPs in aquatic systems, which have significant implications for predicting the transport and fate of NPs in complex real-world environments.

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