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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Nanoplastic in aqueous environments: The role of chemo-electric properties for nanoplastic-mineral interaction
ClearHeterogeneous aggregation of microplastics and mineral particles in aquatic environments: Effects of surface functional groups, pH, and electrolytes
Researchers studied how microplastics clump together with soil and rock minerals in water, finding that positively charged minerals bound to plastic particles nearly three times more effectively than clay minerals, and that low pH and calcium ions dramatically accelerated aggregation. Understanding these dynamics helps predict where microplastics will settle or stay suspended in rivers, lakes, and aquifers.
Quantitative Linking of Nanoscale Interactions to Continuum-Scale Nanoparticle and Microplastic Transport in Environmental Granular Media
Researchers successfully linked the atomic-scale forces between plastic nanoparticles and sand grains to predictions of how those particles move through soil and groundwater at larger scales. This advances the ability to model microplastic transport in the environment, which is important for assessing contamination of drinking water sources.
Effects of co-present mineral colloids on the transport of microplastics in porous media: The key role of hydrochemical and hydrodynamic conditions
Scientists studied how tiny plastic particles (microplastics) move through soil and sand when mixed with natural clay particles. They found that the combination of different clay types and water conditions can either help microplastics travel further underground or trap them in place. This research helps us better understand how microplastics might contaminate groundwater sources that provide our drinking water.
Hydrophobic Interactions Drive the Attachment of a Model Nanoplastic on Porous Media Surfaces
When nanoplastics enter soil or groundwater, whether they stick to surfaces or keep moving depends on subtle surface chemistry — particularly how hydrophobic (water-repelling) both the particle and the surrounding material are. Using model nanoplastic particles in a miniature glass pore network, this study demonstrated that hydrophobic attraction can overpower the electrical repulsion that would otherwise keep nanoparticles suspended, causing irreversible attachment to surfaces. This insight is important for predicting how nanoplastics spread through underground water systems and whether they are likely to reach drinking water sources.
Enhanced mobility and dynamic retention of nanoplastics in mineral coated porous media.
Scientists studied how tiny plastic particles move through different types of soil and sand that might be found in groundwater systems. They discovered that these nanoplastics travel much farther and faster through soil than previously thought, especially when water flows quickly. This matters because it suggests that plastic pollution from things like food packaging and cosmetics could spread more widely through our drinking water sources than we realized.
Coarse-Grained Simulations of the Nanoplastic Interactionwith Soil Organic Matter
Researchers used coarse-grained molecular simulations to investigate how nanoplastics interact with soil organic matter at the molecular level, finding that nanoplastic particle properties strongly influence their binding behavior and ecological risk in terrestrial ecosystems.
Micro- and nanoplastics retention in porous media exhibits different dependence on grain surface roughness and clay coating with particle size
Researchers found that grain surface roughness and clay coatings affect the retention of microplastics and nanoplastics in porous media differently depending on particle size, with nanoplastics behaving oppositely to microplastics in certain soil conditions — complicating predictions of plastic transport in groundwater systems.
Soil Solution Promotes Nanoplastic Aggregation via Eco-corona Formation and Hetero-aggregation
Scientists found that tiny plastic particles in soil clump together into bigger chunks when they interact with natural soil chemicals and microbes. This clumping could affect how these plastic particles move through soil and potentially into our food and water supply. Understanding how plastic pollution behaves in soil helps us better predict human exposure to these particles.
The individual transport, cotransport and immobilization with solar pyrolysis biochar of microplastics and plasticizer in sandy soil
Researchers tracked the individual transport, co-transport, and immobilization of microplastics in porous media, finding that plastic particle behavior differs significantly depending on surface charge and pore structure interactions. The results improve predictions of where microplastics migrate and accumulate in soils and aquifers.
Microplastics/nanoplastics in porous media: Key factors controlling their transport and retention behaviors
This review examines what controls how microplastics and nanoplastics move through soil and other porous materials like sand and sediment. Factors like particle size, shape, surface charge, water flow speed, and the presence of other pollutants all influence whether plastics stay in place or travel deeper into groundwater. Understanding these transport behaviors is important for assessing the risk of microplastics contaminating underground drinking water sources.
Surfactant-mediated transport of polyvinyl chloride nanoplastics in porous media: Influence of natural organic matter, natural inorganic ligands and electrolytes
Researchers studied how surfactants affect the movement of polyvinyl chloride nanoplastics through soil and groundwater systems. They found that surfactants, particularly anionic ones, significantly enhance nanoplastic transport through porous materials, while certain minerals and organic matter can either help or hinder movement. The findings are important for understanding how nanoplastics spread through subsurface environments and potentially contaminate groundwater.
Transport and Retention of Unstable Nanoparticle Suspensions in Porous Media: Effects of Salinity and Hydrophobicity Observed in Microfluidic Pore Networks
Scientists studied how tiny plastic particles move through soil and rock underground, which helps us understand what happens to microplastics in our environment. They found that salty water and oily surfaces cause these particles to clump together and get permanently stuck in the ground, which could affect how microplastics spread through groundwater. This research helps us better predict where microplastics might end up and how to design systems to trap them before they reach our drinking water sources.
Hydrophobic Interactions Drive the Attachment of a Model Nanoplastic on Hydrophobic Collector Surfaces
Researchers used a model nanoplastic (charge-stabilized ethyl cellulose nanoparticles) in a glass pore network to demonstrate that hydrophobic interactions dominate nanoplastic attachment at solid-water and air-water interfaces in groundwater, establishing that hydrophobicity is a critical driver of nanoplastic fate and transport in the subsurface.
Secondary nanoplastic transport in sand and in soil
Scientists studied how tiny plastic particles called nanoplastics move through sand and soil after being broken down in the environment for many years. They found that different types of plastic particles move differently underground - some get stuck while others travel further - depending on the plastic type and soil conditions. This research helps us better understand how these microscopic plastic pieces might spread through groundwater and potentially reach drinking water sources, which could affect human health.
Influence of typical clay minerals on aggregation and settling of pristine and aged polyethylene microplastics
Researchers investigated how common clay minerals affect the aggregation and settling behavior of pristine and aged polyethylene microplastics in water. They found that high salt concentrations promoted the settling of microplastics when clay minerals were present, and that electrostatic repulsion was the dominant force governing interactions between plastics and clay particles. The findings provide new insights into how microplastics are transported and deposited in natural water systems.
Effect of PVC microplastics on pesticide sorption behavior in soil: Key roles of particle size and aging
Researchers studied how PVC microplastics of different sizes and aging states affect pesticide behavior in agricultural soil. They found that smaller and aged microplastics significantly enhanced pesticide adsorption and made it harder to release back into the soil, primarily through hydrogen bonding mechanisms. The study highlights the need to account for microplastic contamination when assessing how pesticides move through and persist in agricultural soils.
Charge mediated interaction of polystyrene nanoplastic (PSNP) with minerals in aqueous phase
Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with common soil and sediment minerals, finding that positively charged iron oxide minerals (goethite and magnetite) strongly adsorb nanoplastics via electrostatic attraction and hydrogen bonding, while negatively charged clay minerals do not — providing mechanistic insight into how nanoplastics may accumulate in iron-rich soils and sediments.
Nanoscale imaging of the simultaneous occlusion of nanoplastics and glyphosate within soil minerals
Scientists used nanoscale imaging to show that nanoplastics coated with glyphosate herbicide can become trapped within soil mineral surfaces through crystal growth and particle aggregation. This trapping mechanism may limit how far nanoplastics and their associated chemicals migrate through soil toward groundwater.
Impact of Minerals (Ferrihydrite and Goethite) and Their Organo-Mineral Complexes on Fate and Transport of Nanoplastics in the Riverine and Terrestrial Environments
Researchers studied how common iron minerals and their organic matter complexes affect the movement and fate of nanoplastics in river and soil environments. The study found that pure minerals had higher sorption capacity for nanoplastics than their organo-mineral counterparts, and goethite-based systems caused greater aggregation and retention of nanoplastics, suggesting that soil mineral composition plays an important role in nanoplastic transport.
Mineral surface-specific nanoplastic adsorption: Insights from quartz crystal microbalance experiment and molecular modeling simulations
This study investigated how nanoplastics stick to mineral surfaces commonly found in soil and water — specifically quartz (SiO2) and alumina (Al2O3) — using both lab experiments and molecular computer simulations. The two minerals behaved oppositely: higher salt concentrations increased nanoplastic deposition on quartz but reduced it on alumina, explained by differences in hydrophobic versus hydrophilic surface interactions. Understanding these mineral-specific adsorption behaviors is important for predicting how nanoplastics move through soils and aquifers and whether they could reach drinking water sources.
Microplastics transport in soils: A critical review
Researchers reviewed how microplastics move through soil, finding that their transport depends on a complex mix of particle properties, soil chemistry, water flow, and biological activity — and that these factors often interact in ways that produce contradictory results across studies. The review maps these knowledge gaps and calls for more controlled experiments to predict where microplastics accumulate and how they might reach groundwater or crops.
Transport behavior of microplastics in soil‒water environments and its dependence on soil components
Researchers studied how polystyrene microplastics move through columns packed with different soil components and found that soil organic matter allowed the highest transport efficiency, with over 90 percent of particles passing through. Electrostatic repulsion between the negatively charged microplastics and soil particles was a key factor driving migration. The results suggest that soil composition plays a major role in determining how far microplastics can travel underground toward water sources.
Mechanism of coupled phosphate‑calcium modulation of nanoplastic transport in porous media: Role of solution chemistry and surface interactions
Scientists used laboratory experiments and molecular simulations to study how phosphate and calcium ions in soil water affect whether polystyrene nanoplastics move freely through the ground or get trapped in soil particles. They found that pH was a key factor: at lower pH levels, phosphate helped nanoplastics travel farther while calcium restricted movement, with both effects linked to how these ions change the surface charge of both the particles and the soil. Understanding nanoplastic mobility in soil is essential for predicting contamination of groundwater and crops.
Heteroaggregation and deposition behaviors of carboxylated nanoplastics with different types of clay minerals in aquatic environments: Important role of calcium(II) ion-assisted bridging
This study examined how nanoplastics interact with common clay minerals found in water, which affects how far the plastic particles can travel through the environment. Calcium and other positively charged ions act as bridges that cause nanoplastics to clump together with clay and settle out of water more quickly. Understanding this process is important because it determines whether nanoplastics stay suspended in drinking water sources or settle into sediments where they can affect bottom-dwelling organisms.