Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Interfacial Engineering of Soft Matter Substrates by Solid-State Polymer Adsorption

Researchers investigated interfacial engineering of soft matter substrates through solid-state polymer adsorption, examining how polymer films modify surface properties with implications for materials design and the broader understanding of polymer behavior relevant to plastic persistence in the environment.

2024 ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Rapid Physicochemical Changes in Microplastic Induced by Biofilm Formation

Researchers studied how biofilm formation rapidly changes the physical and chemical properties of microplastics over a two-week period. The study found significant two-way interactions between microbial communities and plastic surfaces, with biofilm colonization altering surface properties of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene, while the type of polymer influenced which microbial communities developed.

2020 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 159 citations
Article Tier 2

Colonization characteristics and surface effects of microplastic biofilms: Implications for environmental behavior of typical pollutants

This review examines how bacteria colonize microplastic surfaces in water, forming biofilms that change how the plastics behave in the environment. These biofilms alter the surface properties of microplastics and affect how they absorb and transport heavy metals and other pollutants. Understanding biofilm formation on microplastics is important because it can make the particles more dangerous by concentrating toxic substances that could eventually enter the food chain.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 65 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the environment: Interactions with microbes and chemical contaminants

This review covers what is known about microplastic interactions with microbes and co-occurring chemical contaminants in the environment, examining how biofilms on microplastics alter pollutant transport and the ecological consequences for soil, water, and atmospheric systems.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 417 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Biofilm Formation on the Fate and Potential Effects of Microplastic in the Aquatic Environment

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.

2017 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 1318 citations
Article Tier 2

Surface functional groups and biofilm formation on microplastics: Environmental implications

This review explains that microplastics in the environment are not the same as freshly made plastic -- weathering and aging change their surface chemistry and allow bacteria to form films on them. These changes make microplastics more toxic and better at absorbing and transporting other pollutants through water and soil. Understanding this transformation is important because it means the microplastics humans encounter are likely more harmful than lab-tested pristine particles suggest.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 88 citations
Article Tier 2

olYours iReview on microplastic-polymer composite interactions: Assessing contaminant adsorption, structural integrity, and environmental impacts

This review examines how microplastics interact with polymer composites, focusing on contaminant adsorption mechanisms, effects on composite structural integrity, and the broader environmental implications of plastic-pollutant interactions in ecosystems.

2025 Communication in Physical Sciences
Article Tier 2

Biofilm on microplastics in aqueous environment: Physicochemical properties and environmental implications

This review examines how bacteria and other microorganisms form sticky films called biofilms on microplastic surfaces in water. These biofilms change how microplastics move through the environment and increase their ability to absorb pollutants like heavy metals, pesticides, and antibiotics. Biofilm-coated microplastics may also carry harmful bacteria, making them a greater potential health risk than clean microplastic particles.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 353 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding Interface Exchanges for Assessing Environmental Sorption of Additives from Microplastics: Current Knowledge and Perspectives

This review examines how chemical additives move between microplastics and the surrounding environment, including water, soil, and living organisms. The study highlights the complexity of these interactions and emphasizes that understanding how microplastics absorb and release chemicals is essential for properly assessing their environmental and health risks.

2024 Molecules 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating Adhesion and Degradation of Polymer Materials for Industrial Applications

This study investigated the adhesion and degradation behaviors of polymer materials used in industrial applications, examining how surface interactions and environmental breakdown contribute to plastic pollution through microplastic generation.

2024 Deep Blue (University of Michigan)
Article Tier 2

Surface Reactions in Selective Modification: The Prerequisite for Plastic Flotation

This review examines the surface chemistry modifications used in plastic flotation separation, a process that selectively separates mixed plastic waste streams for recycling by exploiting differences in surface hydrophilicity. Improving plastic recycling efficiency through better sorting technology reduces the amount of plastic waste that ultimately degrades into environmental microplastics.

2020 Environmental Science & Technology 57 citations
Article Tier 2

(micro)Plastic biofilms: Keeping afloat by carving out a new niche

This review examined how microplastics serve as persistent substrates for microbial biofilm formation in natural environments, creating a novel ecological niche called the plastisphere that hosts distinct microbial communities. The authors discussed how these biofilms alter microplastic surface properties and may enhance the persistence and transport of plastic particles and associated microbes.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic surface biofilms: a review of structural assembly, influencing factors, and ecotoxicity

This review explores how microbial biofilms form on microplastic surfaces in natural environments, creating tiny ecosystems known as the plastisphere. Researchers found that these biofilms change the physical and chemical properties of microplastics and can significantly alter their toxicity to living organisms. The study emphasizes that most toxicity research still uses pristine microplastics, which may not accurately reflect the real-world risks posed by biofilm-coated particles.

2025 Frontiers in Marine Science 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding the Fundamental Basis for Biofilm Formation on Plastic Surfaces: Role of Conditioning Films

This review examined how conditioning films — layers of proteins, polysaccharides, and other biomolecules that form on plastic surfaces in aquatic environments — alter surface properties and govern early microbial colonization, playing a critical role in plastisphere community development.

2021 Frontiers in Microbiology 165 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of biofilms on the adsorption behavior of nine organic emerging contaminants on microplastics in field-laboratory exposure experiments

Researchers studied how natural biofilms that form on microplastics in lake water affect the adsorption of nine emerging organic contaminants. The study found that biofilm colonization on microplastic surfaces can significantly alter how these particles interact with pollutants, in some cases increasing and in others decreasing contaminant uptake compared to clean microplastics.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as Vectors of Chemicals and Microorganisms in the Environment

This review examines microplastics as vectors for chemicals and microorganisms in the environment, discussing the 'plastisphere' concept, hydrophobic surface interactions that facilitate pollutant adsorption, biofilm formation, and the mechanisms by which microplastics transport contaminants and pathogens through aquatic systems.

2020 29 citations
Article Tier 2

The Importance of Biofilms to the Fate and Effects of Microplastics

This review examines how biofilms — communities of microorganisms that form on microplastic surfaces — affect the fate and ecological effects of plastic pollution. Biofilm formation alters how microplastics are transported, ingested, and degraded in the environment, and the plastisphere can harbor pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria that may pose risks to human health.

2020 IntechOpen eBooks 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Surface Chemistry in Environmental Degradation of Polymeric Solids

Researchers reviewed the three main degradation pathways of plastic materials from a surface chemistry perspective: chemical, biological, and mechanical degradation. They described how these processes can occur consecutively or simultaneously in the environment, ultimately producing microplastics. The study provides a scientific framework for understanding how plastics break down into smaller particles, which is essential for developing strategies to address microplastic pollution.

2024 Langmuir 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of Biofilms in the Degradation of Microplastics

This review examines the role of microbial biofilms in degrading microplastics, presenting insights into how microbial communities colonizing plastic surfaces may contribute to the breakdown of microplastic particles in aquatic and terrestrial environments.

2025
Article Tier 2

Sequential interfacial contributions of microplastics to microbial adhesion and metal adsorption

Researchers uncovered the mechanistic sequence of interactions between microplastics, microorganisms, and metals in aquatic environments, finding that microbial adhesion to microplastic surfaces precedes and facilitates subsequent metal adsorption through temporal interfacial processes.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Interfacial Reactions in Chemical Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics

This review highlights the importance of understanding interfacial chemical reactions that occur during the depolymerization of plastics for chemical recycling and upcycling. Researchers emphasize that critical processes at the polymer-catalyst and polymer-fluid boundaries have been largely overlooked, yet they govern reaction efficiency. The study calls for more focused research on these interface dynamics to improve strategies for breaking down plastics, including environmental micro- and nanoplastics.

2024 ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Colloid and Interface Science for Understanding Microplastics and Developing Remediation Strategies

This perspective article argues that principles from colloid and interface science are essential for understanding how microplastics behave in the environment. Researchers explain how surface chemistry, particle shape, and roughness govern how microplastics interact with water, soil, and other pollutants. The study identifies wastewater treatment plants as critical hotspots where microplastics accumulate in sludge and get reintroduced to the environment through agricultural application.

2025 Langmuir 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Materials, surfaces, and interfacial phenomena in nanoplastics toxicology research

This review examines how the materials and surface properties of engineered nanoplastics used in toxicology research may not accurately represent real environmental nanoplastics. Researchers found that surfactants, fluorescent labels, and surface modifications commonly applied to lab-made nanoparticles can alter their toxicological profiles in unpredictable ways. The study calls for greater attention to how particle surface chemistry and preparation methods influence experimental outcomes in nanoplastics safety research.

2021 Environmental Pollution 84 citations
Review Tier 2

The chemical behaviors of microplastics in marine environment: A review

This review summarized interactions between microplastics and organic pollutants and metals in the marine environment, covering sorption behavior across polymer types, the role of degradation in altering sorption capacity, and global monitoring data on pollutant concentrations on marine plastics. The authors conclude that microplastic type, pollutant properties, and environmental conditions all strongly influence chemical accumulation on plastic surfaces.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 654 citations