Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Highly Efficient, Recyclable Microplastic Adsorption Enabled by Chitin Hydrogen Bond Network Rearrangement

Scientists developed a foam made from chitin, a natural material found in seafood shells, that can absorb over 400 milligrams of nano-sized microplastics per gram of material, even in saltwater. This recyclable, sustainable approach could help clean microplastics from ocean water, and the recovered plastic can be converted into useful products.

2024 Advanced Functional Materials 52 citations
Article Tier 2

Nature-derived hydrogel for microplastic removal

Scientists developed a nature-based hydrogel made from chitin and lignin that can remove nanoplastics from wastewater with very high efficiency, absorbing up to 1,791 milligrams of plastic per gram of material. This sustainable, reusable filter could help reduce the amount of tiny plastic particles that reach drinking water and ultimately the human body.

2025 Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Formation of calcium alginate hydrogel by freezing and its application for microplastic capture

Researchers developed a calcium alginate hydrogel formed by freeze-thaw processing and evaluated its application as an adsorbent for capturing microplastics from water.

2025 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Article Tier 2

Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification

Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that self-assemble into thermogels in water and reversibly capture nanoplastics, demonstrating a programmable, jellyfish-inspired filtration approach for removing nanoscale plastic particles from aquatic environments.

2025
Article Tier 2

Revivable self-assembled supramolecular biomass fibrous framework for efficient microplastic removal

Scientists developed a sustainable material made from chitin and cellulose, two natural compounds, that can efficiently remove multiple types of microplastics from water. The material can be regenerated and reused multiple times without losing effectiveness, making it a practical tool for water cleanup. This type of affordable, eco-friendly filtration technology could help reduce human exposure to microplastics in drinking water.

2024 Science Advances 65 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable sponges made from chitin-cellulose nanofibers for sustainable removal of microplastics from aquatic environment

Researchers developed a biodegradable sponge made from chitin and cellulose nanofibers that can remove up to 93% of microplastics from water. The sponge maintained strong performance after four reuse cycles and naturally biodegraded in soil environments. The study presents a sustainable, eco-friendly approach to cleaning microplastic contamination from aquatic ecosystems without introducing additional persistent pollutants.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 8 citations
Article Tier 2

The use of chitosan for water purification from microplastics

Researchers investigated chitosan as a sorbent for removing microplastics from water, analyzing its physicochemical properties and proposing an optimized purification method based on chitosan's sorption characteristics.

2025 Open MIND
Article Tier 2

Synergistic Microplastics Capture and Bacterial Inhibition by a Cationic COF‐Reinforced Chitosan/Tannic Acid Aerogel

Researchers developed a cationic covalent organic framework aerogel made from chitosan and tannic acid that effectively captures microplastics from water while also inhibiting bacteria. The study suggests this low-cost, monolithic aerogel overcomes the limitations of powdered materials and offers a practical, convenient approach for microplastic removal from contaminated water.

2026 Advanced Functional Materials
Article Tier 2

Coral-inspired environmental durability aerogels for micron-size plastic particles removal in the aquatic environment

Researchers developed a coral-inspired polydopamine-enhanced magnetic cellulose aerogel for removing micron-sized microplastic particles from water, mimicking corals' active adsorption and passive adhesion mechanisms to achieve effective microplastic capture.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 127 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradable and re-usable sponge materials made from chitin for efficient removal of microplastics

Researchers developed biodegradable sponges made from chitin, a natural material, that can effectively remove tiny microplastic particles smaller than 3 micrometers from water. The sponges achieved removal rates of up to 92% and could be reused for multiple cycles while remaining safe for aquatic organisms. This green approach offers a promising, environmentally friendly method for cleaning microplastics from water systems.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 214 citations
Article Tier 2

Hybrid Chitin-Coffee Ground Biochar Foam for Microplastic Adsorption

Researchers developed a sustainable hybrid foam made from waste seafood chitin and used coffee ground biochar for filtering microplastics from water. The study found that the foam achieved consistently high adsorption efficiency across seawater, river water, and deionized water, particularly for polystyrene microspheres larger than 1 micrometer, offering an eco-friendly approach to microplastic removal.

2026 American journal of student research.
Article Tier 2

Hydrogel-based nanocomposites for enhanced environmental remediation

A review covered hydrogel-based nanocomposites engineered to adsorb and remove pollutants including microplastics from water. These materials show promise as efficient, tunable sorbents for environmental remediation applications.

2025 Environmental Functional Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyoxometalate nanocluster-infused triple IPN hydrogels for excellent microplastic removal from contaminated water: detection, photodegradation, and upcycling

Researchers developed a specialized hydrogel infused with copper-based nanoclusters to remove microplastics from contaminated water. The study found that the hydrogel could both adsorb and photodegrade microplastic particles under various conditions simulating real-world water environments. This scalable approach suggests a promising new strategy for tackling microplastic pollution in water bodies.

2024 Nanoscale 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification

Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that self-assemble into micelles and undergo reversible temperature-triggered sol-gel-syneresis transitions to capture nanoplastics from water, achieving removal efficiencies of 68-100% for polystyrene nanoplastics (20-1000 nm) and recovery efficiencies up to 61% for downstream analysis.

2025
Article Tier 2

Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification

Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that form thermally responsive hydrogels capable of capturing nanoplastics from water, achieving removal efficiencies of 68–100% for polystyrene nanoparticles (20–1,000 nm), with a reversible gel-syneresis cycle enabling both passive filtration and particle recovery for trace analysis.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification

Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that form thermally responsive hydrogels capable of capturing nanoplastics from water, achieving removal efficiencies of 68–100% for polystyrene nanoparticles (20–1,000 nm), with a reversible gel-syneresis cycle enabling both passive filtration and particle recovery for trace analysis.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Marine Gel Interactions with Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Pollutants

Marine microgels—tiny gel particles in the ocean—can concentrate hydrophobic pollutants, acting as vectors similar to microplastics. This review explores how these natural colloidal materials interact with chemical contaminants and how they relate to the ecological role of microplastics in pollutant transport.

2021 Gels 24 citations
Article Tier 2

A Chitosan Nanofiber Sponge for Oyster-Inspired Filtration of Microplastics

An ultralight chitosan nanofiber sponge was developed as a filtration material for removing microplastics from water, inspired by oyster filtration biology, and demonstrated high removal efficiency for polystyrene microplastics in lab tests while being biodegradable and made from renewable chitosan feedstock.

2021 ACS Applied Polymer Materials 66 citations
Article Tier 2

Utilization of chitosan as a natural coagulant for polyethylene microplastic removal

Scientists tested chitosan, a natural material derived from shellfish, as an eco-friendly way to remove polyethylene microplastics from water. Under the best conditions (pH 6.0 with 100 mg/L of chitosan), the treatment removed 81.5% of microplastics, offering a promising and environmentally safe approach to cleaning microplastic-contaminated water.

2025 Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Fish Gill-Inspired Bidirectional Porous Polysaccharide Aerogels for Micro/Nanoplastics Removal

Researchers developed a fish gill-inspired bidirectional porous aerogel made from chitosan and other polysaccharides for removing micro- and nanoplastics from water. The biomimetic structure allowed efficient capture of plastic particles across a wide size range while maintaining good water flow. The study presents a sustainable filtration approach using biodegradable materials that could address the challenge of removing tiny plastic particles from freshwater systems.

2025 ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrated Chitosan-based coagulation and microbubble pre-treatment for improved microplastic fibre removal from water

Researchers developed a combined chitosan-based coagulation and microbubble pre-treatment system for removing microplastic fibres from water, finding that this approach overcame the limitations of conventional inorganic coagulants and improved removal efficiency for the morphologically challenging fibre fraction.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

A Novel Method For Microplastic Removal From Wastewater

Researchers developed a material using PAMAM dendrimers — highly branched molecules with many attachment sites — that effectively captures and holds microplastics from contaminated water. The approach showed promise as an economical water treatment solution for removing microplastic pollution from drinking and agricultural water supplies.

2025 International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews
Article Tier 2

Enhancing nano and microplastics destabilization: Synergistic effects of natural mucin and conventional coagulants in water and wastewater treatment

Researchers investigated whether combining jellyfish mucus with conventional water treatment coagulants could improve removal of micro- and nanoplastics from water. The synergistic combination achieved over 90% removal efficiency with settling times under 5 minutes, outperforming either agent alone by leveraging bridging and entrapment mechanisms.

2025 Environmental Technology & Innovation 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction of chitosan with nanoplastic in water: The effect of environmental conditions, particle properties, and potential for in situ remediation

Researchers tested chitosan — a natural polymer derived from shellfish — as a tool to aggregate and remove nanoplastic particles from water, finding it caused clumping at low doses but that high pH, dissolved organic matter, and surface chemistry of the plastics all affected its performance. The results suggest chitosan-based treatment has real potential for water remediation but requires careful tuning of environmental conditions.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 24 citations