Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

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.

2019 Environmental Science & Technology 197 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigation of the Sheltering Effects on the Mobilization of Microplastics in Open-Channel Flow

Researchers investigated how bed grain sheltering affects microplastic mobilization in open-channel flow, developing improved formulas for predicting the critical shear stress needed to move microplastic particles of various materials and densities.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental Study on the Incipient Motion of Microplastic Particles with Different Shapes, Sizes, and Densities on a Live Sediment Bed

Researchers experimentally determined the conditions under which 65 groups of microplastic particles of varying shapes, sizes, and densities begin to move on a sediment bed, finding that after accounting for friction differences and hiding effects, microplastic motion follows the classical Shields curve used for natural sediment transport.

2023
Article Tier 2

Impact of erodent shape on microplastic breakdown during wind erosion

Researchers simulated wind erosion abrasion using three sediment erodent shapes (rounded, sub-angular, angular) against three sizes of polyethylene spheres to quantify how erodent geometry drives the physical breakdown of microplastics into smaller particles, including nanoplastics, in aeolian transport environments.

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

Impact 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.

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

Experimental study on the motion characteristics and critical hydraulic parameters of microplastics in a freshwater environment

Researchers conducted hydraulic flume experiments and force analyses to determine critical flow velocity thresholds for microplastic initiation, transport, and resuspension in freshwater environments, finding that settling velocities ranged from 0.05 to 0.17 m/s and that higher density, rougher surfaces, and flake-like shapes all increased the critical flow velocity required for microplastic movement.

2024 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Flume experiments on transport and deposition behavior of microplastics in sediment bed environments

Researchers ran 42 flume experiments with three model sediments and spherical microplastics of varying size and density, finding that deposition depth is governed by sediment porosity and the grain-to-particle diameter ratio, while transport is primarily controlled by particle density and initial placement, providing data to improve MP mass balance models.

2026 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Microplastic and natural sediment in bed load saltation: Material does not dictate the fate

Researchers investigated how microplastics move as bed load in river flows and found that transport behavior in saltation was governed primarily by particle size, shape, and density rather than material composition, suggesting that microplastics follow similar transport mechanics as natural sediment.

2023 Water Research 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating Microplastic Resuspension in Environmental flows: Experimental and Numerical Approaches

Researchers used combined experimental and numerical approaches to investigate the resuspension of microplastics from sediment beds in riverine flows, finding that turbulence intensity during high-flow events plays a key role in detaching MP particles embedded in multi-density granular sediment beds.

2025
Article Tier 2

Influence of polymer age and soil aggregation on microplastic transport in soil erosion events

Researchers compared the transport rates of pristine and aged polystyrene microplastics during simulated rainfall events and quantified their incorporation into soil aggregates across multiple wet-dry cycles, providing the first empirical data on how surface roughness and hydrophobicity changes from weathering affect MP mobility in soil erosion.

2024
Article Tier 2

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.

2016 Marine Pollution Bulletin 629 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2023 International Journal of Hydropower and Civil Engineering
Article Tier 2

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.

2025
Article Tier 2

Shields Diagram and the Incipient Motion of Microplastic Particles

Researchers conducted flume experiments to determine the conditions under which different shapes and sizes of microplastic particles begin to move along a river or ocean bottom, testing spheres, cylinders, disks, cubes, fibers, and irregular particles. They developed a new framework that accounts for differences in friction, surface roughness, and sheltering effects to predict when microplastics start to be transported. For the first time, the study reconciles microplastic movement behavior with the classical Shields diagram used in sediment transport science.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of particle density on the mobility of microplastics in sediments

This study investigates how the density of microplastic particles affects their mobility through soil and potential to reach groundwater, using column experiments with polyethylene particles of different densities. Particle density was found to influence transport behavior, with implications for understanding how microplastics migrate through terrestrial environments.

BOK:ePub (Universitätsbibliothek der Universität f Bodenkultur Wien)
Article Tier 2

Transport and accumulation of plastic particles on the varying sediment bed cover: Open-channel flow experiment

Researchers conducted open-channel flow experiments to study how various plastic particles of differing shape, size, density, and flexibility are transported and retained across sediment beds of varying grain size, finding that friction-driven retention zones consistently form at boundaries between finer and coarser sediments, offering a mechanism to explain the patchy distribution of microplastics in seafloor sediments.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Mobility and retention of microplastic fibers and irregular plastic fragments in fluvial systems: an experimental flume study

Researchers conducted experimental flume studies to compare the mobility and retention of microplastic fibres and irregularly shaped plastic fragments in fluvial systems. The study found that particle shape strongly influences transport behaviour, with fibres exhibiting greater mobility and distinct retention patterns compared to irregular fragments, highlighting the need to move beyond spherical particle models in microplastic transport research.

2025 Microplastics and Nanoplastics
Article Tier 2

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.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Response of microplastic particles to turbulent flow: An experimental study

Using controlled flume experiments, researchers studied how turbulent flow conditions affect the transport and settling behavior of microplastic particles with varied shapes and densities, finding that turbulence intensity and particle morphology interacted to determine suspension and deposition patterns.

2025
Article Tier 2

Investigations on microplastic infiltration within natural riverbed sediments

Researchers used laboratory flume experiments to investigate how sediment grain size affects the infiltration of four types of microplastics (PET spheres, PET ellipsoids, polystyrene fragments, and polyamide fibers) into riverbed sediments. Sediment particle size, microplastic shape, and density were key factors controlling how deeply microplastics penetrate into the hyporheic zone.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Dynamics of microplastics bedload transport in turbulent open channel flows over smooth and rough beds

Researchers developed novel empirical formulas for predicting bedload transport layer thickness and velocity of microplastics in turbulent open-channel flows using 80 controlled flume experiments across diverse particle types and flow conditions. The new formula for bedload layer thickness reduced prediction error by 75% compared to existing sediment-based formulas, demonstrating the critical role of particle density and bed characteristics in shaping MP transport dynamics.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Microplastic deposition in streams under moving bedforms

Researchers conducted flume experiments to examine microplastic deposition in sandy streambeds under moving bedform conditions, finding that bedform migration and particle size both control whether microplastics are buried or remain in suspension, with implications for estimating MP residence times in river systems.

2025
Article Tier 2

Experimental study of non-buoyant microplastic transport beneath breaking irregular waves on a live sediment bed

Researchers conducted wave-flume experiments showing that non-buoyant microplastics are transported shoreward under breaking irregular waves, with their cross-shore distribution influenced by wave energy, particle density, and sediment bed dynamics.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Bedforms effect on microplastics deposits erosion

Researchers conducted flume experiments to study how a sand bedform influences the erosion of compact polyamide microplastic deposits, finding that a sudden increase in flow rate forced erosion of microplastics accumulated at the lee side of a dune, shedding light on water-bed interface dynamics relevant to river ecology.

2024