Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Combined effects of photoaging and natural organic matter on the colloidal stability of nanoplastics in aquatic environments

Researchers found that photoaging of polystyrene nanoplastics alters how natural organic matter interacts with their surfaces — reducing humic acid adsorption while increasing protein adsorption — with downstream effects on the nanoplastics' stability and transport in aquatic environments.

2022 Water Research 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation kinetics of UV irradiated nanoplastics in aquatic environments

Researchers compared the aggregation behavior of fresh versus UV-aged polystyrene nanoplastics under various aquatic conditions. They found that UV aging altered the surface chemistry of nanoplastics, making them more stable in water and less likely to aggregate, which means they could remain suspended and bioavailable for longer periods. The study suggests that weathered nanoplastics may behave very differently from fresh particles in the environment, complicating risk assessments.

2019 Water Research 214 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic understanding of the aggregation kinetics of nanoplastics in marine environments: Comparing synthetic and natural water matrices

Researchers investigated aggregation kinetics of polystyrene nanoplastics in marine environments, finding that organic matter type and salt concentration strongly influenced particle stability, with nanoplastics in natural seawater aggregating differently than in synthetic matrices.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of environmental and biological macromolecules on aggregation kinetics of nanoplastics in aquatic systems

Researchers studied how natural macromolecules like humic acid, alginate, and proteins influence the clumping behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics in water. They found that these macromolecules generally stabilized nanoplastics in sodium chloride solutions but caused them to aggregate in calcium chloride solutions, with effects varying by pH. The findings suggest that the environmental fate and transport of nanoplastics in natural waters depends heavily on the surrounding organic molecules and water chemistry.

2020 Water Research 135 citations
Article Tier 2

Destabilization of photochemical weathered nanoplastics by natural organic matter in monovalent electrolyte solutions

Researchers investigated how photochemical weathering of nanoplastics alters the adsorption of natural organic matter (NOM) and subsequent colloidal stability in monovalent electrolyte solutions, comparing pristine and photoaged polystyrene nanoplastics exposed to Suwannee River NOM. They found that photoaging modified the eco-corona structure formed by NOM adsorption, destabilizing nanoplastic aggregation behavior in aquatic environments.

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

Heteroaggregation kinetics of nanoplastics and soot nanoparticles in aquatic environments

Researchers examined how polystyrene nanoplastics and soot particles aggregate together in aquatic environments, finding that particle ratio, salinity, pH, and dissolved organic matter all influence clumping rates — with calcium ions dramatically accelerating aggregation and potentially altering nanoplastic transport in coastal and marine waters.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaging alters the aggregation behavior of functionalized nanoplastics differently: effects of leached organic matter and surface properties changes

This study found that UV photoaging of nanoplastics changes their surface chemistry and causes them to release organic compounds, but the downstream effect on how particles clump together (aggregation) differs markedly depending on what chemical groups are on the particle surface. This matters because aggregation behaviour controls whether nanoplastics sink or stay suspended in water, affecting which organisms are exposed and how far the particles travel.

2026 Environmental Science Nano
Article Tier 2

Swelling-Induced Fragmentation and Polymer Leakage of Nanoplastics in Seawater

Researchers tracked polystyrene nanoplastics in seawater over 29 days under simulated sunlight and found that light accelerates aggregation, while also inducing swelling and fragmentation of particles and leaching of polymer components, complicating predictions of nanoplastic fate and risk in marine environments.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure Order to Photoaging and Humic Acids Significantly Modifies the Aggregation and Transformation of Nanoplastics in Aqueous Solutions

Researchers discovered that the order in which nanoplastics are exposed to sunlight and natural organic matter significantly changes how they clump together and behave in water. Nanoplastics aged by sunlight before encountering humic acids behaved differently than those exposed in the reverse order. This finding is important for predicting how nanoplastics actually move and persist in real-world water environments.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 41 citations
Article Tier 2

UV/ozone induced physicochemical transformations of polystyrene nanoparticles and their aggregation tendency and kinetics with natural organic matter in aqueous systems

Researchers weathered polystyrene nanoparticles with UV light and ozone and then tested their aggregation behavior in waters containing humic acid, lysozyme, and alginate, finding that weathering-induced oxygen-containing surface groups significantly altered aggregation kinetics in ways strongly dependent on which organic molecules were present.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of CeO2 nanoparticles on the aggregation kinetics and stability of polystyrene nanoplastics: Importance of surface functionalization and solution chemistry

Researchers used time-resolved dynamic light scattering to investigate how cerium dioxide nanoparticles influence the aggregation and stability of differently surface-functionalized polystyrene nanoplastics across multiple water chemistries. Results showed that CeO2 nanoparticles promoted heteroaggregation with nanoplastics, with natural organic matter and ionic strength modulating aggregate formation and the environmental mobility of nanoplastics.

2020 Water Research 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of natural organic matter and inorganic ions on the stabilization of polystyrene micro-particles

Researchers investigated how natural organic matter (NOM) and inorganic ions affect the stabilization and aggregation behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics in water, finding that NOM enhanced colloidal stability while high ionic strength promoted aggregation. The results indicate that water chemistry plays a dominant role in determining nanoplastic mobility and persistence in natural freshwater environments.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation kinetics and stability of biodegradable nanoplastics in aquatic environments: Effects of UV-weathering and proteins

Researchers investigated the aggregation behavior of biodegradable nanoplastics (PBAT) in aquatic environments, finding that UV weathering and protein presence significantly alter their colloidal stability and aggregation kinetics, which influences their environmental fate and transport.

2023 Water Research 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of electrolyte and natural organic matter characteristics on the aggregation and sedimentation of polystyrene nanoplastics

Researchers examined how dissolved organic matter from different water sources affects the aggregation and sedimentation of polystyrene nanoplastics under varied salt concentrations and temperatures, finding that biopolymers form a protective 'eco-corona' around particles that strongly inhibits long-term sedimentation, while temperature influences aggregation dynamics in complex ways.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Dissolved Organic Matter Enhanced the Aggregation and Oxidation of Nanoplastics under Simulated Sunlight Irradiation in Water

Dissolved organic matter was found to enhance both the aggregation and photooxidation of nanoplastics under simulated sunlight in water, with humic substances promoting particle clustering and accelerating surface oxidation. The results indicate that organic matter content in natural waters strongly influences nanoplastic fate and transformation.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Natural Organic Matter Stabilizes Pristine Nanoplastics but Destabilizes Photochemical Weathered Nanoplastics in Monovalent Electrolyte Solutions

This study examined how sunlight weathering and natural organic matter coatings change the behavior of nanoplastics in water. Researchers found that organic matter stabilizes fresh nanoplastics but actually destabilizes sun-weathered ones, meaning aged nanoplastics in natural waters may clump together and settle differently than expected, affecting where they end up in aquatic environments.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics: Role of surface functional groups and protein and electrolyte variation

Researchers studied how different surface coatings on polystyrene nanoplastics affect their tendency to clump together in water containing proteins and salts. They found that the type of surface functional group significantly changed how the particles aggregated, with proteins and electrolytes playing important roles in the process. The study helps explain how nanoplastics behave and transform as they move through natural water systems.

2023 Chemosphere 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Thermodynamic investigation of nanoplastic aggregation in aquatic environments

Researchers used isothermal titration calorimetry combined with time-resolved dynamic light scattering to investigate the thermodynamics of polystyrene nanoplastic aggregation in aquatic environments, finding that solvation entropy was a major determinant of aggregation behavior and that stability in natural water was correlated with ionic strength and the presence of metal oxides and clay colloids.

2022 Water Research 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation kinetics of microplastics in aquatic environment: Complex roles of electrolytes, pH, and natural organic matter

Researchers found that the aggregation behavior of polystyrene microplastics in water was strongly influenced by pH, ionic strength, and the presence of natural organic matter, with divalent cations like calcium and magnesium promoting aggregation. Understanding aggregation kinetics is critical for predicting how microplastics partition between suspended and settled states in natural water bodies.

2018 Environmental Pollution 249 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation Kinetics and Stability of Biodegradable Nanoplastics: Effects of Weathering and Proteins

Researchers studied how weathering and proteins affect the aggregation and stability of biodegradable nanoplastics in water. Biodegradable plastics can still generate persistent nanoscale particles that behave differently depending on environmental conditions, complicating assumptions about their safety compared to conventional plastics.

2023