Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Recent advances on micro/nanoplastic pollution and membrane fouling during water treatment: A review

Researchers reviewed recent advances in understanding how micro- and nanoplastics contribute to membrane fouling during water treatment processes. The study found that while membrane separation effectively removes microplastics from wastewater effluent, fouling caused by plastic particles along with dissolved organics and extracellular polymers remains a key obstacle, and understanding the fouling mechanisms is critical for improving treatment efficiency.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution Threatens the Working Capacity of the Reverse Osmosis Plant Located Near the Sea Beach

Researchers documented how microplastic pollution from a nearby sea beach threatens the operational capacity of a reverse osmosis desalination plant, finding that plastic particle accumulation in intake systems compromises membrane performance and treatment efficiency.

2025 Pakistan Journal of Chemistry
Article Tier 2

Treatment of Synthetic Wastewater Containing Polystyrene (PS) Nanoplastics by Membrane Bioreactor (MBR): Study of the Effects on Microbial Community and Membrane Fouling

This study treated synthetic wastewater containing polystyrene nanoplastics using membrane bioreactor technology, evaluating removal efficiency across operational conditions and examining how nanoplastics affect biological treatment performance.

2024 Membranes 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Microplastics on Pre-treatment Process for Seawater Desalination

Researchers examined the effects of microplastics on pre-treatment processes used in seawater desalination, investigating how microplastic contamination interferes with filtration and other preparatory steps essential to producing potable water from seawater.

2025 National University of Singapore
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics-mediated interfacial processes controlling perfluorooctanoic acid transport in forward osmosis

Researchers examined how polystyrene nanoplastics with different surface chemistries affect PFAS removal in a forward osmosis membrane system, finding that nanoplastic fouling promotes accumulation of PFOA near the membrane surface — especially for positively charged particles — worsening concentration polarization and complicating PFAS removal from contaminated waters.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Fouling behavior heterogeneity of typical nanoplastics in widely used polyvinylidene fluoride ultrafiltration membranes

Polystyrene nanoplastics caused more severe membrane fouling and greater cleaning difficulty in polyvinylidene fluoride ultrafiltration membranes than polyethylene nanoplastics, with flux descent rates ranging from 9–36%, raising concerns about nanoplastics passing through or fouling water treatment membranes.

2024 Journal of environmental chemical engineering 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate and removal efficiency of polystyrene nanoplastics in a pilot drinking water treatment plant

Researchers investigated how effectively a pilot-scale drinking water treatment plant removes polystyrene nanoplastics. The study found that sand and activated carbon filtration alone achieved 88.1% removal, but adding a coagulation step dramatically improved removal efficiency to 99.4%, with most nanoplastics captured during the sand filtration process.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 87 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics fouling and interaction with polymeric membranes: A review

This review examined microplastic fouling of polymeric membranes used in water treatment, analyzing how MPs affect membrane permeability and rejection performance, and discussing strategies — including surface modification and pre-treatment — to mitigate fouling.

2021 Chemosphere 113 citations
Article Tier 2

Mitigation of membrane particulate fouling by nano/microplastics via physical cleaning strategies

This study assessed physical cleaning strategies for removing nano- and microplastic fouling from membrane surfaces used in water treatment, finding that backwashing and chemical cleaning effectiveness varied by plastic particle size and surface charge.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancements in Sustainable Membrane Technologies for Enhanced Remediation and Wastewater Treatment: A Comprehensive Review

This review covers membrane filtration technologies—reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, and ultrafiltration—as methods for removing contaminants from water, with relevance to microplastic and nanoplastic removal from drinking water and wastewater. Advancing membrane-based treatment is critical for reducing the microplastic load in treated water that humans and ecosystems are ultimately exposed to.

2023 Acadlore Transactions on Geosciences 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Granular limestone amended sand filters for enhanced removal of nanoplastics from water: Performance and mechanisms

Researchers found that adding granular limestone to sand filtration systems significantly improved removal of polystyrene nanoplastics from both deionized and wastewater, with calcium ions from the limestone enhancing particle aggregation and retention in filter media.

2022 Water Research 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced membrane fouling by microplastics during nanofiltration of secondary effluent considering secretion, interaction and deposition of extracellular polymeric substances

Researchers found that microplastics significantly worsen membrane fouling during nanofiltration of treated wastewater, increasing both short-term and long-term fouling resistance by up to 46% and 27% respectively. The study reveals that microplastics influence fouling through their effects on bacterial extracellular polymeric substance secretion, interaction with coexisting pollutants, and deposition on membrane surfaces.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Kinetic and mechanistic analysis of membrane fouling in microplastics removal from water by dead-end microfiltration

Researchers analyzed membrane fouling during microplastic removal by microfiltration, finding that polyamide particles caused more fouling than polystyrene due to higher hydrophobicity and smaller size, with pore blocking followed by cake layer formation as the dominant fouling mechanisms.

2023 Journal of environmental chemical engineering 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental Evaluation of the Process Performance of MF and UF Membranes for the Removal of Nanoplastics

Researchers evaluated microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membrane performance for removing polystyrene nanospheres (120 and 500 nm) from water, finding that UF membranes can achieve high removal of nanoplastic particles that conventional wastewater treatment misses.

2023 Membranes 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of polystyrene nanoplastics on extracellular polymeric substance composition of activated sludge: The role of surface functional groups

Researchers investigated how three types of polystyrene nanoplastics with different surface functional groups affect activated sludge used in wastewater treatment. All three types significantly reduced total protein production in the sludge and caused cellular oxidative stress and membrane damage, with positively charged particles causing the most harm. The findings suggest that nanoplastic contamination in wastewater could impair the biological processes essential for effective sewage treatment.

2021 Environmental Pollution 79 citations
Article Tier 2

New insights into the concentration-dependent regulation of membrane biofouling formation via continuous nanoplastics stimulation

Researchers investigated how different concentrations of nanoplastics affect membrane biofouling by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa in water filtration systems. They found that low nanoplastic concentrations actually promoted biofilm formation by enhancing bacterial communication and energy metabolism, while high concentrations inhibited it through oxidative stress. The study reveals that nanoplastic pollution can influence water treatment membrane performance in concentration-dependent ways.

2024 Water Research 13 citations
Review Tier 2

A review of microplastic removal from water and wastewater by membrane technologies

This review examines how membrane filtration technologies can remove microplastics from drinking water and wastewater. Researchers found that advanced membranes like nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and membrane bioreactors are among the most effective methods for capturing microplastic particles that conventional treatment plants miss. The study compares membrane approaches with other removal methods and discusses the challenges of membrane fouling caused by microplastic accumulation.

2023 Water Science & Technology 146 citations
Article Tier 2

Behavior and removal of microplastics during desalination in a lab-scale direct contact membrane distillation system

Researchers explored microplastic behavior in a direct contact membrane distillation system for seawater desalination, finding that the membrane effectively removed microplastics from drinking water while certain plastic types degraded under the high operating temperatures.

2023 Desalination 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of Membrane Fouling by Microplastic Particles in Tertiary Wastewater Treatment Processes

Researchers evaluated membrane fouling caused by microplastic particles during tertiary wastewater treatment, finding that microplastics contributed to fouling through pore blocking and cake layer formation, which reduced membrane performance and treatment efficiency.

2022 ACS ES&T Water 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Remediation of Micro- and Nanoplastics by Membrane Technologies

This review examined how membrane filtration technologies can remove micro- and nanoplastics from water and wastewater, since conventional treatment plants cannot fully eliminate these particles. Researchers found that techniques like ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and membrane bioreactors are highly effective at capturing microplastics, though each has trade-offs related to cost, fouling, and energy use. The study also raises the concern that polymeric membranes themselves could potentially release plastic particles during the filtration process.

2025 Membranes 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Development of hydroxyapatite-enhanced membrane for nanoplastics removal: Multiple scenarios and mechanism exploration

Researchers developed a novel hydroxyapatite-functionalized PVDF membrane (HAPF) for nanoplastics removal, achieving a water flux of 4376 LMH and high polystyrene nanoplastic rejection efficiency, with the optimized membrane prepared via a one-step method at pH 7.3.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Investigations on the Particle Fouling and Backwash Efficiency During Microplastic Microfiltration–Particle Size Aspects

Researchers characterised polystyrene microplastic microfiltration through cellulose acetate membranes, testing particle and pore sizes in comparable ranges to challenge dead-end filtration. Particle size relative to pore size strongly influenced fouling behaviour, and backwashing efficiency varied with particle characteristics, informing filtration system design for MP removal.

2025 Membranes 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Review of New Approaches for Fouling Mitigation in Membrane Separation Processes in Water Treatment Applications

This review examined new antifouling strategies for membrane separation processes in water treatment, analyzing how organic matter including nano/microplastics, inorganic particles, and biological matter cause membrane fouling, and evaluating nanomaterial-based and other emerging mitigation approaches.

2021 Separations 140 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics in the oceans: Theory, experimental evidence and real world

Researchers critically review over 200 studies on nanoplastic pollution — focusing predominantly on polystyrene — synthesizing knowledge on how nanoplastics form from polymer degradation, accumulate in seawater, and affect organisms in controlled conditions, while identifying key methodological standards needed for reliable ecotoxicological assessments.

2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin 84 citations