Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Ozonation facilitates the aging and mineralization of polyethylene microplastics from water: Behavior, mechanisms, and pathways

Ozonation was shown to accelerate the aging and partial mineralization of polyethylene microplastics, with surface oxidation creating more reactive particles susceptible to further degradation. The study provides mechanistic insight into how advanced oxidation processes could contribute to microplastic breakdown in water treatment.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 56 citations
Article Tier 2

Ozonation and its Application in Wastewater Treatment

Not relevant to microplastics — this review covers ozonation and catalytic ozonation as wastewater disinfection and organic pollutant degradation technologies, with no focus on microplastic contamination.

2023 International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Reactivity of four model microplastics with ozone.

Researchers investigated the reactivity of four model microplastic types with ozone, examining how ozone treatment affects the physicochemical properties of microplastics as a potential water treatment strategy for degrading plastic particles.

2025 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository
Article Tier 2

Effective Removal of Microplastics Using a Process of Ozonation Followed by Flocculation with Aluminum Sulfate and Polyacrylamide

Researchers tested a two-step water treatment process combining ozonation with flocculation to remove microplastics. They found that ozone pretreatment roughened the microplastic surfaces and added chemical groups that dramatically improved removal rates, from 40% to 91%, during the subsequent flocculation step. The findings suggest this combined approach could significantly enhance microplastic removal in conventional water treatment plants.

2025 Separations 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of ozonation on PET and PVC microplastics in model urban wastewater

Researchers investigated the effects of 6-hour ozonation treatment on PET and PVC microplastics in model urban wastewater, evaluating ozonation as an advanced oxidation process for microplastic degradation and assessing changes in polymer structure and surface chemistry for both plastic types.

2025 Global NEST International Conference on Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

Ozone-mediated breakdown of microplastics in aqueous environments

Researchers examined how ozone-based advanced oxidation processes break down microplastics in water treatment settings. They found that while ozone can degrade certain plastics, the effectiveness varies depending on particle size, polymer type, and treatment conditions, and the process may generate nanoplastic byproducts. The study highlights both the promise and limitations of ozone treatment as a strategy for removing microplastics from wastewater.

2025 Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging and Transformation of Polyethylene Microplasticsin UASB Effluents Treated with O3 and O3/H2O2: Physicochemical Changes and Toxicity Assessment

Researchers treated polyethylene microplastics in UASB wastewater reactor effluents with ozone and ozone/hydrogen peroxide, finding that both processes caused significant surface degradation and chemical transformation without increasing toxicity, suggesting safe application for wastewater treatment.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Comparison of surficial modification of micro-sized polyethylenein between by UV/O3 and UVO submerged system

Researchers compared ozone and UV oxidation methods for chemically modifying the surface of polyethylene microplastics in water, finding that different treatment combinations create distinct surface changes. Understanding how weathering alters microplastic surfaces is important for predicting their environmental behavior and toxicity.

2021 Environmental Engineering Research 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhancing nanoplastics removal by metal ion-catalyzed ozonation

Researchers found that while standard ozone water treatment reduced the size of polystyrene nanoplastics by over 99% in under five minutes, it left behind smaller fragments and achieved only 16% actual destruction; adding cobalt as a catalyst dramatically improved breakdown to 70% mineralization. The findings reveal an important trade-off: ozonation used for water disinfection may actually generate more, smaller nanoplastic particles unless a catalytic process is included.

2024 Chemical Engineering Journal Advances 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Estudo da degradação de microplásticos em água e efluente secundário de estação de tratamento de esgoto por processos baseados em ozônio

This Brazilian study tested ozone-based water treatment processes for degrading polyethylene microplastics in both clean water and secondary wastewater effluent. While ozonation could break down microplastics into smaller fragments and dissolved organic carbon, it did not fully eliminate them, suggesting the need for combined treatment approaches.

2022 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Article Tier 2

The effect of Ozonation on the chemical structure of microplastics

Ozone treatment of microplastics in water caused oxidative changes to polymer surfaces including carbonyl group formation and surface cracking, which altered hydrophobicity and potentially increased the capacity of treated particles to adsorb contaminants, suggesting that ozonation in water treatment may chemically transform rather than eliminate microplastic hazards.

2021 IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Surface modification of polyethylene microplastic particles during the aqueous-phase ozonation process

Researchers examined the surface modification of polyethylene microplastics during aqueous-phase ozonation, finding that increasing ozone dosage and exposure time progressively increased carbonyl and hydroxyl functional groups on the particle surface. FTIR and XPS analysis showed ozonation altered the surface chemistry of polyethylene microplastics in ways that could change their environmental fate and pollutant adsorption capacity.

2020 Environmental Engineering Research 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced ozonation of polystyrene nanoplastics in water with CeOx@MnOx catalyst

Researchers developed a core-shell CeOx@MnOx catalyst to enhance ozone-based degradation of polystyrene nanoplastics in water, finding that the catalyst significantly improved removal efficiency. The system offers a promising approach for treating nanoplastic-contaminated water given the difficulty of natural decomposition.

2023 Environmental Research 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of different oxidants on the behaviour of microplastic hetero-aggregates

Researchers studied how different oxidants (ozone, chlorine, UV) affect the aggregation and settling behavior of microplastics in water treatment, finding that oxidation altered surface chemistry and changed hetero-aggregate formation with natural particles. The results have implications for predicting microplastic removal efficiency in drinking water and wastewater treatment plants.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Changes in physical and chemical properties of microplastics by ozonation

Researchers examined how ozone treatment in water systems changes the physical and chemical properties of six common types of microplastics. They found that ozonation altered surface roughness, wettability, and chemical composition of the plastics, with some types being more affected than others. The findings are important because these changes could influence how microplastics interact with other pollutants and organisms in treated water.

2024 Process Safety and Environmental Protection 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal of Organic Micropollutants and Microplastics via Ozonation Followed by Granular Activated Carbon Filtration

A pilot ozonation and granular activated carbon filtration system at a German wastewater treatment plant removed over 80% of organic micropollutants and transformation products, but had minimal impact on microplastic concentrations, indicating a gap in treatment efficacy.

2024 Environments 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Pre-oxidization-induced change of physicochemical characteristics and removal behaviours in conventional drinking water treatment processes for polyethylene microplastics

Researchers investigated how pre-oxidation treatments alter the physicochemical properties of polyethylene microplastics and found that oxidation changed surface characteristics and influenced removal efficiency during conventional drinking water treatment processes.

2020 RSC Advances 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on the removal of trace organic compounds during ozonation: Oxidation and adsorption of trace organic compounds and byproducts

Microplastics were found to interfere with the ozonation of trace organic compounds in water treatment, with plastic surfaces adsorbing both target pollutants and ozonation byproducts, potentially reducing treatment effectiveness and creating new exposure pathways.

2021 Environmental Pollution 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) for the Degradation of Micro and Nano Plastic

This review assesses advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) — including photocatalysis, ozone treatment, electrocatalysis, and Fenton reactions — as methods to break down micro- and nanoplastics in water. While AOPs can degrade plastic particles, most currently achieve only modest levels of complete mineralization, meaning significant plastic residues often remain. The study highlights the need to optimize and potentially combine these techniques to develop effective water treatment solutions for removing nanoplastics from drinking water and wastewater.

2024 Advances in environmental engineering and green technologies book series 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparative Photocatalytic Performance of Gd, Zn, and Ti Metal Oxide Catalysts for Polyethylene Microplastics Removal

Photocatalysis — using light to drive chemical reactions that break down pollutants — shows real promise for degrading microplastics in water. Testing three different metal oxide catalysts, this study found that a modified zinc oxide catalyst could degrade 78% of polyethylene microplastics within two hours under visible light, outperforming both commercial catalysts and the other materials tested. The results point toward surface-engineered ZnO as a potentially practical tool for treating microplastic-contaminated water, though scaling these lab conditions to real-world water treatment remains a significant challenge.

2025 International Journal of Environmental Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Physicochemical changes in microplastics and formation of DBPs under ozonation

Researchers examined physicochemical changes in thermoplastic polyurethane and polyethylene microplastics during ozonation water treatment, finding that the process can alter microplastic morphology and potentially generate disinfection byproducts.

2023 Chemosphere 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the degradation of microplastics by Fenton oxidation: From surface modification to mineralization

Researchers investigated Fenton oxidation of five common microplastic types, finding that while bulk particles showed modest weight losses of around 10%, polystyrene nanoplastics achieved 70% mineralization, with aromatic polymers being more susceptible to degradation.

2022 Chemosphere 131 citations
Article Tier 2

Transformation of Traditional Wastewater Treatment Methods into Advanced Oxidation Processes and the Role of Ozonation

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it reviews advanced oxidation processes with a focus on ozonation for wastewater treatment, covering microbial inactivation and degradation of organic pollutants.

2023 Journal of Ecological Engineering 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of advanced oxidation processes on leachates and properties of microplastics

Ozonation, Fenton, and heat-activated persulfate treatments were applied to microplastics containing pigment red, finding that all three advanced oxidation processes effectively degraded the released pigment and altered nanoscale surface properties of the treated MPs.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 145 citations