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20 resultsShowing papers similar to Impact of erodent shape on microplastic breakdown during wind erosion
ClearImpact of erodent shape on microplastic breakdown during wind erosion
Researchers designed abrasion simulation experiments using three different erodent shapes (rounded, sub-angular, and angular sediments) and three sizes of polyethylene spheres to investigate how erodent geometry influences the mechanical breakdown of microplastics during wind erosion, finding that erodent shape significantly affects fragmentation rate and the generation of secondary nanoplastics.
The effects of sediment properties on the aeolian abrasion and surface characteristics of microplastics
Laboratory experiments quantified how sediment properties influence the rate at which wind abrades and fragments exposed microplastics, generating smaller particles. The results improve understanding of aeolian (wind-driven) microplastic fragmentation as a source of airborne micro- and nanoplastics in arid environments.
The effects of sediment properties on the aeolian abrasion and surface characteristics of microplastics
This study used laboratory wind tunnel experiments to examine how microplastics are physically abraded when transported by wind alongside sand and soil particles, testing angular, sub-rounded, and rounded sediment grains over extended periods. The abrasion altered the surface chemistry and texture of the plastic particles in ways that could affect how they interact with pollutants and organisms in the environment. The work reveals that wind transport does not merely move microplastics — it transforms them, potentially changing their environmental hazard profile.
Macroplastic surface characteristics change during wind abrasion
Laboratory wind tunnel experiments showed that wind-driven abrasion of macroplastics on sandy surfaces produces distinct surface features and generates secondary microplastic particles, demonstrating that wind erosion is a meaningful pathway for plastic fragmentation in arid and coastal environments.
Size, shape, and elemental composition as predictors of microplastic surface erosion
Scientists examined 146 microplastic particles and found that surface erosion depends on particle size and shape — larger particles and irregularly shaped fragments showed more surface degradation than small, round microbeads. More eroded surfaces can release more chemicals and create more nanoplastic fragments. These findings help researchers better assess which types of microplastics may pose the greatest environmental and health risks.
Influence of microplastics on small-scale soil surface roughness and implications for wind transport of microplastic particles
Researchers investigated how microplastics mixed into soil affect surface roughness at small scales, finding that microplastics altered surface texture in ways that could increase soil susceptibility to wind erosion and promote atmospheric transport of microplastic particles.
Experimental Study on the Erodability of Microplastics in Muddy Environments
Researchers experimentally quantified the erodability of microplastics of diverse compositions, densities, shapes, and sizes on smooth and synthetic cohesive sediment beds in a hydraulic flume, measuring critical shear stresses required to mobilise individual particles. They found that particle shape was the dominant factor governing mobilisation (spheres eroding most easily, followed by pellets, fibres, and sheets), with density as a secondary factor for particles of equivalent shape.
Breakdown and Modification of Microplastic Beads by Aeolian Abrasion
Researchers studied how wind-driven saltation, a natural sand transport process, physically breaks down and modifies microplastic beads. They found that simulated wind abrasion reduced microplastic diameter by 30-50% over several hundred hours, with over 95% of the fragments produced being smaller than 10 micrometers. The study demonstrates that aeolian processes can generate large quantities of secondary microplastic fragments small enough to be inhaled, representing a previously underappreciated pathway of microplastic breakdown in the environment.
Effects of Shape and Size on Microplastic Atmospheric Settling Velocity
Researchers measured atmospheric settling and horizontal drift velocities of various microplastic shapes and sizes in controlled settling chambers, providing empirical data needed to improve atmospheric transport models that explain how microplastics reach remote environments.
Is plastic dust different from mineral dust? Results from idealized wind tunnel experiments.
Researchers conducted wind tunnel experiments to compare how plastic particles of different sizes detach from flat surfaces in wind compared to mineral dust particles. Plastic particles required higher wind speeds to become airborne than mineral dust of similar size, likely due to shape differences. These findings inform atmospheric transport models for predicting how far and how much microplastic can be carried by wind across the landscape.
Analysis of hydraulic conditions considering the influence of particle shape
This review article examined how particle shape influences fluid dynamics and sediment transport across various engineering and environmental contexts. Understanding particle shape effects is relevant to predicting how microplastics of different shapes move and settle in aquatic environments.
Controls on microplastic breakdown due to abrasion in gravel bed rivers
Researchers investigated the physical controls on microplastic fragmentation due to mechanical abrasion in gravel-bed rivers, examining how particle size, morphology, polymer type, and weathering state influence breakdown rates and the resulting changes in surface properties that alter risk profiles during fluvial transport.
Wind erosion as a driver for transport of light density microplastics
Researchers investigated wind erosion as a transport mechanism for microplastics across different land uses in Iran and found that wind-eroded sediments contained significant quantities of light-density microplastic particles. Agricultural and barren lands showed higher microplastic concentrations in wind-eroded material. The study identifies wind as an important but overlooked pathway for spreading microplastic contamination across landscapes.
On some physical and dynamical properties of microplastic particles in marine environment
This study examined the physical and dynamical properties of microplastic particles in marine environments, using modeling to predict how particle shape, density, and size govern transport, dispersion, and accumulation patterns.
Soil erosion as transport pathway of microplastic from agriculture soils to aquatic ecosystems
Researchers simulated heavy rainfall events on agricultural soils containing microplastics and tracked particle transport through runoff and erosion, finding that soil erosion is a significant pathway for moving agricultural microplastics into adjacent water bodies, with particle size and shape governing transport distance.
Influence of sediment size on microplastic fragmentation
Researchers examined how sediment grain size influences the physical fragmentation of microplastics in river environments, where the mechanical controls on microplastic storage, remobilization, and transfer pathways remain poorly understood. The study found that sediment size plays a meaningful role in breaking down plastic particles, contributing to the generation of smaller microplastic fragments in fluvial systems.
Erosion of rigid plastics in turbid (sandy) water: quantitative assessment for marine environments and formation of microplastics
Researchers quantified the erosion rate of rigid plastic materials by water-borne sand under conditions representing turbid rivers and coastal oceans. Polypropylene showed the highest erosion response at a surface degradation rate of 5,160 um per year, demonstrating that mechanical erosion by suspended sediments is a significant source of microplastic generation in aquatic environments.
Role of Structural Morphology of Commodity Polymers in Microplastics and Nanoplastics Formation: Fragmentation, Effects and Associated Toxicity in the Aquatic Environment
This review examines how the structural morphology and chemical composition of commodity polymers influence the formation and environmental behaviour of microplastics and nanoplastics, arguing that chemical degradation pathways have been largely overlooked in favour of purely physical abrasion explanations for plastic fragmentation.
Wave-averaged motion of small particles in surface gravity waves: Effect of particle shape on orientation, drift, and dispersion
This study uses mathematical modeling to show that the shape of a small particle — such as a microplastic fragment — determines how it orients itself, drifts, and spreads when carried by ocean surface waves. This matters for predicting where microplastics accumulate in the ocean, since non-spherical fibers and fragments move very differently from spheres under the same wave conditions.
Erosion Behavior of Different Microplastic Particles in Comparison to Natural Sediments
Researchers experimentally measured how easily different types of microplastic particles are eroded and transported in river systems compared to natural sediment. They found that critical shear stresses for microplastics ranged widely depending on particle shape, density, and size, as well as the composition of the riverbed. The study developed an equation to predict when different microplastic particles will be mobilized from river sediments, providing a tool for estimating microplastic transport rates in waterways.