Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Ubiquitous microplastics, sources, impacts, and treatment: Importance of cost-effective ceramic membranes for MPs removal

This review examines the sources, environmental impacts, and treatment methods for microplastic contamination, with a focus on ceramic membrane filtration. Researchers found that while conventional treatment methods have limitations, ceramic membranes offer cost-effective and durable performance for removing microplastics from water. The study highlights the widespread presence of microplastics across environmental compartments and the urgent need for scalable removal technologies.

2024 Water Cycle 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Performance of intermittent sand and coke filters for the removal of size-ranged microplastics

Researchers tested sand and coke filters at a laboratory scale to remove microplastics from water and found that coke-based filters achieved up to 92.79% removal efficiency, outperforming sand alone. These low-cost filtration systems could be added to wastewater treatment plants to significantly reduce the number of microplastics reaching rivers and oceans.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances
Article Tier 2

Application of Hybrid Ceramic Membranes for Microplastic and Nanoplastic Separation and Improved Wastewater Treatment

This study evaluated hybrid ceramic membrane filtration combined with anaerobic digestion for removing micro- and nanoplastics from wastewater. The system achieved high removal efficiencies and showed that membrane filtration is a promising technology for reducing plastic particles before effluent discharge.

2025 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

Fabrication of low-cost ceramic microfiltration membranes with controllable pore size distribution using nanometer attapulgite for gravity-driven filtration of microplastic-contaminated roofing rainwater

Low-cost ceramic microfiltration membranes were fabricated for water purification, demonstrating effective removal of suspended particles including microplastics from contaminated water. Affordable membrane materials are important for making microplastic removal accessible in low-resource settings.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Are Water Filters Effective Against Microplastics?

Comparing microplastic concentrations in water from purifiers, tap water, and ceramic filters found ceramic filters had significantly lower MP levels (0.49 MPs/L) compared to purifiers (1.41 MPs/L) and tap water (1.13 MPs/L) across 9,262 identified microplastic items.

2024 Water 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Rapid Sand Filtration Technique for Remediation of Microplastics

Researchers tested rapid sand filtration as a technique for removing microplastics from water, evaluating particle removal efficiency across different plastic sizes, shapes, and filter media. The technique achieved meaningful microplastic reduction and was proposed as a practical water treatment enhancement.

2024 Microplastics 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Removal from a Plastic Recycling Industrial Wastewater Using Sand Filtration

Researchers demonstrated that sand filtration can effectively remove microplastics from plastic recycling facility wastewater, with laboratory-scale tests showing significant reduction in microplastic concentrations across different polymer types, sizes, and shapes.

2023 Water 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal of Plastics from Micron Size to Nanoscale Using Wood Filter

This study demonstrated that porous wood filters can effectively remove both microplastics and nanoplastics from water, offering a low-cost, biodegradable alternative to conventional filtration materials.

2024 Materials 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Low-cost silica based ceramic supported thin film composite hollow fiber membrane from guinea corn husk ash for efficient removal of microplastic from aqueous solution

A low-cost ceramic hollow fiber membrane fabricated from guinea corn husk ash silica was developed and tested for microplastic removal from water, achieving high rejection rates for particles above 1 micrometer and offering a scalable, affordable filtration option for regions lacking expensive commercial membranes.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 52 citations
Article Tier 2

Development of a hybrid filter media for microplastic removal from wastewater

Researchers developed hybrid glass fiber filter media incorporating glass and electrospun polymer nanofibers—both blended into the matrix and applied as surface layers—to improve microplastic removal efficiency from wastewater compared to standard filtration media.

2025 Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg)
Article Tier 2

Severity of waterborne diseases in developing countries and the effectiveness of ceramic filters for improving water quality

This review evaluates strategies used in developing countries to combat waterborne diseases, with a focus on ceramic water filters as an affordable purification method. Ceramic filters can effectively remove bacteria, viruses, and chemical contaminants including microplastics from drinking water. With billions of people lacking access to clean water, low-cost filtration methods that also remove emerging contaminants like microplastics are critical for protecting public health.

2023 Bulletin of the National Research Centre/Bulletin of the National Research Center 115 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification of Microplastic Pollution in Surface Water and Removal Strategies Using a Combination of Gravel-Zeolite Filter

Researchers identified five types of microplastics in the water and sediment of Lake Laut Tawar in Indonesia, including fibers, fragments, films, foams, and pellets. They tested a filtration system combining gravel and zeolite sand and achieved a 92.2% microplastic removal rate from lake water samples. The study demonstrates that low-cost filtration technology can be effective for reducing microplastic contamination in surface water.

2025 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced removal of small microplastics (1–5 μm) from secondary-treated wastewater using Spent Coffee Grounds biochar: Application of flow cytometry

Researchers found that biochar made from spent coffee grounds — a waste product — can remove nearly 100% of microplastics 2 micrometers and larger from treated wastewater, and about 49% of the smallest 1-micrometer particles. This low-cost, sustainable filter material significantly outperformed traditional sand filters, with fewer than 1.5% of trapped particles escaping during backwashing.

2025 Journal of Water Process Engineering 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of membranes performance for microplastic removal in a simple and low-cost filtration system

Researchers tested three types of filter membranes (polycarbonate, cellulose acetate, and PTFE) for removing microplastics from water in a simple low-cost household system, finding all achieved over 94% removal by mass but that some plastic particles broke into smaller pieces during filtration. Cellulose acetate membranes performed best for long-term home use, offering a practical approach for reducing microplastic exposure from tap water.

2020 Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering 142 citations
Article Tier 2

The Effect of Filter Media Size and Loading Rate to Filter Performance of Removing Microplastics using Rapid Sand Filter

This study evaluated how filter media size and hydraulic loading rate affect rapid sand filter performance in removing microplastics from water. Smaller sand media (0.39 mm) and lower loading rates achieved greater MP removal, suggesting that optimizing these parameters can improve conventional water treatment for plastic particles.

2022 Journal of Engineering and Technological Sciences 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Ceramic Membranes to Separate Anthropogenic Microparticles from Wastewater Sludge Centrate

Researchers evaluated ceramic microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes for removing microplastics from the liquid centrate stream in wastewater sludge dewatering, finding that while all membranes fully rejected particles larger than 50 µm, multi-channel ultrafiltration membranes achieved up to 95% efficiency for fragments but only 70% for fibers, and cross-contamination remained an unsolved challenge.

2026 Water Air & Soil Pollution
Article Tier 2

Addition of biochar as thin preamble layer into sand filtration columns could improve the microplastics removal from water

Researchers found that adding a thin biochar layer to sand filtration columns greatly improved microplastic removal from water, with biochar produced at higher pyrolysis temperatures performing better due to stronger electrostatic interactions with plastic particles.

2022 Water Research 89 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding and Improving Microplastic Removal during Water Treatment: Impact of Coagulation and Flocculation

Researchers systematically tested coagulation and flocculation for removing microplastics from drinking water, finding that removal efficiency depended strongly on plastic particle size and whether particles had been weathered, with smaller pristine particles being the hardest to remove.

2020 Environmental Science & Technology 424 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal of Microplastics in a Hybrid Treatment Process of Ceramic Microfiltration and Photocatalyst-Mounted PES Spheres with Air Backwashing

Researchers developed a hybrid water treatment system combining ceramic microfiltration with photocatalyst-coated spheres and air backwashing to remove microplastics and organic matter. The combined system achieved higher removal rates for both microplastics and dissolved organic compounds than any single treatment method alone. The study demonstrates a promising approach for upgrading existing water treatment facilities to better handle microplastic contamination.

2024 Membranes 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Development and testing of a fractionated filtration for sampling of microplastics in water

Researchers developed and tested a fractionated filtration system for sampling microplastics in water bodies, proposing a standardized sampling concept that accounts for plastic-specific properties to improve comparability of microplastic data across different studies and environments.

2018 Water Research 101 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of Ceramic Membrane Filtration for Alternatives to Microplastics in Cosmetic Formulations Using FlowCam Analysis

Ceramic membrane crossflow filtration was evaluated for removing silica powder and cornstarch—common microplastic alternatives in cosmetics—with FlowCam particle analysis revealing high removal efficiency and insights into particle behavior that can guide greener cosmetic formulation strategies.

2025 Membranes 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparative evaluation of filtration and imaging properties of analytical filters for microplastic capture and analysis

Researchers compared five analytical filter types for microplastic capture and analysis, evaluating their filtration efficiency and imaging properties to help standardize methods and improve the reliability of microplastic quantification across laboratories.

2023 Chemosphere 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of a Water Treatment System for Removing Microplastic in an Aqueous Media

Researchers evaluated the microplastic removal efficiency of a hybrid water treatment system combining a Bradley-type hydrocyclone, sand filter, and polymeric microfiltration membrane, applying mass balance equations and solid-liquid separation models to determine removal performance across different MP size fractions.

2025 Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental
Article Tier 2

[Research Progress on Removal of Microplastics by Filtration in Drinking Water Treatment].

This review examines how media filtration at drinking water treatment plants removes microplastics, evaluating filter types, operating conditions, and removal efficiencies reported in the literature. It identifies filtration as a scalable, cost-effective barrier for MP removal and discusses optimisation strategies to improve performance.

2025 PubMed