We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Fibrous and filmy microplastics exert opposite effects on the mobility of nanoplastics in saturated porous media
Summary
Researchers investigated how fibrous versus filmy polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics affect nanoplastic transport through saturated porous media, using X-ray micro-computed tomography to quantify porosity changes. They found that PET fibers increased effective porosity and enhanced nanoplastic mobility (recovery rising from 69.3% to 86.7%), while PET films reduced porosity and inhibited nanoplastic transport, demonstrating that microplastic shape critically determines their influence on nanoplastic fate.
This study explored the influence of fibrous and filmy polyethylene terephthalate (PET) on the transportation of nanoplastics (NPs) in saturated porous media. With the strong electrostatic repulsion, the negatively charged PET fibers (-57.5 mV) improved the transport of NPs, and the mass percentage of NPs recovered from the effluent (M) increased from 69.3% to 86.7%. However, PET films (-49.7 mV) showed the opposite result, that is, M decreased from 69.3% to 57.0%. X-ray micro-computed tomography quantitatively revealed the change in effective porosity of porous media before and after adding various PET MPs. The addition of 10 mm fiber increased the porosity from 0.39 to 0.43, whereas the addition of 10 × 10 mm film reduced the porosity from 0.39 to 0.29. The fiber-facilitated transport of NPs is presumably due to the formation of new connected pores between fibers and sand grains, whereas the film-inhibited transport of NPs may be due to the partial truncation of transport path of NPs. Overall, the effect of coexisting MPs on the mobility of NPs strongly relies on the shape and size of MPs.