Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Effect of low-molecular-weight organic acids on the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in saturated porous media

Researchers studied how low-molecular-weight organic acids (common in soil and groundwater) affect the movement of polystyrene nanoplastics through saturated porous media, finding that low concentrations promote transport while high concentrations increase particle deposition, with the effect scaling with the number of functional groups on the organic acid.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of low-molecular-weight organic acids on the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics: An insight at the structure of organic acids

Researchers examined how seven common soil organic acids affect nanoplastic movement through sand, finding that dibasic acids (with multiple acid groups) significantly enhance transport by making particle surfaces more negatively charged and hydrophilic, while most monobasic acids have little effect — with implications for predicting nanoplastic migration in agricultural soils.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Low-Molecular-Weight Organic Acids on the Transport of Polystyrene Nanoplastics

Researchers investigated how seven low-molecular-weight organic acids affect the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics through saturated quartz sand columns, finding that dibasic acids and monobasic acids differ in their influence on nanoplastic mobility due to changes in surface charge and particle aggregation behavior.

2025
Article Tier 2

Transport of polystyrene nanoplastics with different functional groups in goethite-coated saturated porous media: Effects of low molecular weight organic acids and physicochemical properties

Researchers studied how low-molecular-weight organic acids affect the migration of surface-functionalized nanoplastics through iron oxide-coated versus plain quartz sand, finding that the acids can shift iron valence states on goethite surfaces at low pH, altering electrostatic interactions in ways that either promote or inhibit nanoplastic transport depending on the media type.

2023 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of natural organic matters on fate of polystyrene nanoplastics in porous media

Researchers investigated how natural organic matter (NOM) affects the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics through porous media, finding that NOM facilitates nanoplastic movement by increasing energy barriers, while metal ions reduce transport by promoting nanoplastic aggregation.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of nanoplastics in saturated porous media: Synergy of particle size, surface functional groups, and low molecular weight organic acids

Researchers systematically tested how particle size and surface functional groups interact with low-molecular-weight organic acids to control nanoplastic mobility through saturated sand columns, finding that carboxyl-coated particles became less mobile as size increased while amine-coated particles became more mobile, with citric acid providing stronger steric hindrance than lactic acid.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Decreased transport of nano- and micro-plastics in the presence of low-molecular-weight organic acids in saturated quartz sand.

Laboratory experiments showed that common organic acids found in soil — citric, malic, and tartaric acid — significantly reduced the movement of polystyrene nano- and microplastics through saturated sand. This finding suggests that soil organic chemistry influences how microplastics migrate toward groundwater, which has implications for drinking water contamination in agricultural areas.

2024 The Science of the total environment
Article Tier 2

Influence of Concentration, Surface Charge, and Natural Water Components on the Transport and Adsorption of Polystyrene Nanoplastics in Sand Columns

Laboratory column experiments showed that nanoplastics made of polystyrene behave very differently in groundwater depending on their surface charge — positively charged particles were retained much more readily in sand than negatively charged ones, and the presence of natural organic matter in real lake water reduced the retention of both types. These findings matter for understanding whether nanoplastics released into the environment will travel through soil and reach drinking water sources, which depends critically on the plastic's surface chemistry.

2024 Nanomaterials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in porous media: Combined effects of two co-existing substances

Researchers studied how cationic and anionic surfactants interact with natural organic matter (humic acid and sodium alginate) to control polystyrene nanoplastic transport through porous media, finding that the dominant mobility mechanism switched from electrostatic (with cationic surfactants) to hydrophobic (with anionic surfactants), with organic matter amplifying each surfactant's effect.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating transport kinetics of polystyrene nanoplastics in saturated porous media

Researchers investigated how ionic strength, pH, and organic matter influence the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics through saturated porous media using column experiments and DLVO modeling, finding that increasing sodium ion concentrations promote nanoplastic aggregation and reduce mobility in soil and groundwater systems.

2022 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in natural soils: Effect of soil properties, ionic strength and cation type

Researchers used column experiments across three soil types to show that polystyrene nanoplastic transport is governed by soil iron and aluminum oxide content and pH — with high-pH, low-oxide soils allowing up to 97% nanoplastic passage — and that calcium ions and higher ionic strength significantly increase retention, revealing that soil chemistry strongly controls nanoplastic mobility toward groundwater.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 290 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of functional group modified polystyrene nanoplastics in binary metal oxide saturated porous media

Researchers found that the surface functional groups of polystyrene nanoplastics significantly influenced their transport behavior through binary metal oxide porous media, with solution chemistry and the specific combination of metal oxides playing key roles in determining nanoplastic mobility in soil environments.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of solution pH on nanoplastic adsorption onto soil particle surface and the aggregation of soil particles

Researchers tested how soil pH affects polystyrene nanoplastic adsorption onto soil particles, finding that the nanoplastics' strongly negative surface charge prevented self-aggregation across all pH levels but that they readily adsorbed onto soil particles with high surface area and positive charge — with adsorption altering the soil particles' own aggregation behavior in ways that will influence nanoplastic mobility through soil.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 6 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2024 Environmental Pollution 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of water-soluble polymers on the transport of functional group-modified polystyrene nanoplastics in goethite-coated saturated porous media

Researchers examined how polyacrylic acid (a common water-soluble polymer) influences nanoplastic migration through iron oxide-coated and uncoated quartz sand, finding that it inhibits transport in plain sand but promotes it in iron-coated media by forming an ecological corona on nanoplastic surfaces that alters electrostatic interactions and competes with iron binding sites.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of solution chemistry and humic acid on transport and deposition of aged microplastics in unsaturated porous media

Researchers used column experiments to investigate how aging, ionic strength, cation type, and humic acid affect the transport of microplastics through unsaturated sandy soil. Aged microplastics with more negative surface charge transported more readily than pristine particles, and humic acid and calcium ions both affected transport in ways dependent on their concentrations.

2022 Chemosphere 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Interaction of Dissolved Organic Matters and Microplastics Regulates the Transport of Microplastics in Saturated Porous Media

Researchers studied how different types of dissolved organic matter affect the transport of polystyrene microplastics through saturated porous media. The study found that humic acid, bovine serum albumin, and sodium alginate all promoted microplastic mobility, with humic acid having the strongest effect due to electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance mechanisms.

2024 ACS ES&T Engineering 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of eco-corona coated nanoplastics in coastal sediments

Researchers investigated how different surface properties and eco-corona coatings affect the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics through coastal marine sediments. They found that negatively charged particles moved more easily through sediment than positively charged ones, while strong aggregation essentially immobilized unmodified particles. The formation of natural organic coatings on nanoplastics had opposing effects depending on surface charge, sometimes enhancing and sometimes inhibiting transport.

2025 Water Research 5 citations
Article Tier 2

The transport of polystyrene microplastics in saturated porous media: Impacts of functional groups and solution chemistry

Researchers studied how surface chemistry and water conditions affect the movement of polystyrene microplastics through sand, comparing unmodified particles with those carrying carboxyl or amino groups that mimic natural aging. They found that factors like water acidity, salt concentration, and the type of chemical groups on the plastic surface all significantly influenced how far the particles traveled. The study provides important insights into how weathered microplastics may spread through soil and groundwater differently than fresh particles.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Quantification of two-site kinetic transport parameters of polystyrene nanoplastics in porous media

This laboratory study tracked how polystyrene nanoplastics move through different soil types by measuring their transport through columns packed with quartz sand and clay minerals. Higher pH conditions reduced the ability of clay minerals to trap nanoplastics, meaning they traveled farther and faster through soil toward groundwater. Understanding these transport dynamics is key to predicting how nanoplastic contamination spreads through soils and ultimately reaches drinking water sources.

2023 Chemosphere 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence mechanism of attapulgite on the migration of carboxylated polystyrene nanoplastics and the role of environmental factors

Researchers found that attapulgite clay mineral significantly influenced the migration of carboxylated polystyrene nanoplastics in saturated porous media, with humic acid and oxalic acid playing differential roles in either facilitating or retarding nanoplastic transport through soil-groundwater systems.

2025 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology
Article Tier 2

Vertical transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in natural soils under unsaturated conditions: influence of particle size and texture

Laboratory experiments showed that polystyrene nanoplastics can travel downward through unsaturated soils, but larger particles and clay-rich soils retain them more effectively than smaller particles in sandy soils. Understanding how nanoplastics move through soil is important for predicting whether they will reach groundwater and contaminate drinking water sources.

2026 Environmental Science Nano
Article Tier 2

Transport behavior of micro polyethylene particles in saturated quartz sand: Impacts of input concentration and physicochemical factors

Laboratory sand column experiments showed that polyethylene microplastic transport is inhibited by high ionic strength (as it reduces the repulsion between particles and sand grains) but enhanced by fulvic acid (which increases surface charge repulsion). The study provides mechanistic data for predicting how microplastics move through soils under different environmental chemical conditions.

2020 Environmental Pollution 153 citations
Article Tier 2

Sensitivity of the Transport of Plastic Nanoparticles to Typical Phosphates Associated with Ionic Strength and Solution pH

This study investigated how phosphate ions in soil pore water influence the transport of plastic nanoparticles through porous media under varying pH and ionic strength conditions. Phosphate affected nanoparticle surface charge and aggregation behavior, altering how far particles traveled. The findings are relevant to understanding how plastic nanoparticles move through soils and groundwater systems.

2022 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 5 citations