Papers

61,005 results
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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

Model analysis of electroflotation water treatment of wastewater containing microplastics

This study developed a mathematical model describing how electroflotation can remove microplastics from wastewater, identifying key factors affecting efficiency. Better process models help optimize treatment systems for removing plastic particles before they enter waterways.

2023 Journal of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences
Article Tier 2

Microplastic removal in coagulation-flocculation: Optimization through chemometric and morphological insights

Researchers optimized the coagulation-flocculation process — a standard water treatment step where chemicals cause particles to clump and settle — for removing three types of microplastics: polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. Polystyrene was removed most efficiently, and adjusting pH, coagulant type, and dosage significantly improved removal rates, providing practical guidance for upgrading existing water treatment plants to better capture microplastics.

2026 Journal of Ecological Engineering
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Removal in a Dynamic Coagulation-Flocculation-Sedimentation System

Researchers compared microplastic removal during standard jar tests (batch) and continuous-flow flocculation systems, finding that flocculation mechanisms and removal efficiency differed significantly between the two setups. Conventional jar testing may overestimate microplastic removal because the flow conditions in real treatment plants are different. These findings have direct implications for designing more effective microplastic removal in full-scale water treatment facilities.

2023 TSpace
Article Tier 2

Impact of coagulation characteristics on the aggregation of microplastics in upper-ocean turbulence

This study investigated how coagulation conditions affect microplastic aggregation in water treatment, finding that coagulant type and dose significantly influence floc formation with plastic particles and ultimately removal efficiency.

2024 Advances in Water Resources 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Settling model to predict microplastics removal efficiency in wastewater treatments

A mathematical settling model was built to predict how efficiently wastewater treatment plants remove microplastics based on particle density, size, shape, and surface loading rates. The model shows that dense, large, spherical particles settle most readily, while light fibers and films are far harder to remove — providing treatment plant operators and engineers with a practical tool for optimizing processes to reduce the discharge of microplastics into rivers and coastal waters.

2024 Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Treatment technologies for the removal of micro plastics from aqueous medium

Researchers reviewed treatment technologies for removing microplastics from water, finding that while multiple methods including filtration, membrane processes, and coagulation show promise, their effectiveness depends on microplastic size, type, and concentration.

2022 AIP conference proceedings 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Machine learning modeling of microplastics removal by coagulation in water and wastewater treatment

Researchers developed machine learning models to predict how effectively coagulation, a common water treatment process, can remove microplastics under different conditions. The best model achieved 96% accuracy and found that water temperature had the biggest negative effect on removal, while adding coagulant aids had the most positive effect. These tools could help water treatment plants optimize their processes to better remove microplastics from drinking water.

2025 Journal of Water Process Engineering 7 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Recent advances in microplastic removal from drinking water by coagulation: Removal mechanisms and influencing factors

A meta-analysis and random forest model found that coagulation can effectively remove microplastics from drinking water, with particle shape being the most important factor affecting removal efficiency, followed by coagulant type and dosage. Charge neutralization is the dominant mechanism for small microplastics, while adsorption bridging and sweeping work better for larger particles.

2024 Environmental Pollution 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Coagulation technologies for separation of microplastics in water: current status

This review examines how coagulation water treatment technologies can remove microplastics from water. Conventional coagulation achieves 8-98% removal efficiency while electrocoagulation achieves 8-99%, depending on conditions, offering a potentially effective approach for reducing microplastics in drinking water and wastewater.

2023 Journal of Physics Conference Series
Review Tier 2

Microplastic removal by coagulation/flocculation: A review and bibliometric analysis

This review of existing research found that a common water treatment method called coagulation (where chemicals help clump particles together so they can be removed) works well at filtering out microplastics from drinking water and wastewater. The treatment is especially good at removing larger microplastic pieces, but struggles with the tiniest ones under 10 micrometers. This matters because microplastics are showing up everywhere in our water supply, and this research suggests we already have proven technology that could help reduce our exposure to these plastic particles.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances
Article Tier 2

The removal of microplastics from water by coagulation: A comprehensive review

This review comprehensively examined coagulation as a technology for removing microplastics from drinking water and wastewater treatment plants, analyzing the mechanisms, influencing factors, and effectiveness of different coagulants for microplastic removal.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 151 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal efficiency of 0.3 to 4 millimeters microplastics in raw water via coagulation and flocculation process

This study tested how effectively a conventional coagulation and flocculation water treatment process could remove microplastics in the 0.3–4 mm size range from raw water. The treatment achieved meaningful removal rates, suggesting that existing drinking water infrastructure can provide some protection against microplastic contamination.

2019
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

Assessment and Optimization of Coagulation Process in Water Treatment Plant: A Review

This review assessed coagulation processes in water treatment plants, examining how factors like coagulant type, dosage, pH, and mixing conditions can be optimized to improve removal of turbidity, organic matter, and emerging contaminants including microplastics.

2022 ASEAN Journal of Science and Engineering 34 citations
Article Tier 2

The influence of coagulation process conditions on theefficiency of microplastic removal in water treatment

Researchers investigated how coagulation process conditions — including coagulant type, pH, and microsand addition — affect the removal of polyethylene, PVC, and textile microfibers from river water, municipal wastewater, laundry effluent, and synthetic matrices. Ferric chloride and polyaluminum chloride both achieved substantial removal, with performance varying significantly by water matrix and microplastic type.

2025 National Repository of Dissertations in Serbia
Article Tier 2

Evaluating theEfficiency of Enhanced Coagulationfor Nanoplastics Removal Using Flow Cytometry

Researchers evaluated the efficiency of enhanced coagulation for removing nanoplastics from water using flow cytometry as a quantification tool, addressing the interconnected challenges of nanoplastic removal and detection in conventional water treatment systems.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Microplastic removal in batch and dynamic coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation systems is controlled by floc size

This study found that microplastic removal during water treatment is strongly controlled by coagulant dosage and operating conditions, with sweep flocculation at higher dosages achieving much better removal than charge-neutralization regimes used at lower dosages.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating the fate and transport of microplastics in a lagoon wastewater treatment system using a multimedia model approach

Researchers developed a multimedia model to predict microplastic fate and transport in a lagoon-based wastewater treatment system, finding high overall removal efficiency with sedimentation as the dominant removal mechanism.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Revealing the removal behavior of five neglected microplastics in coagulation-ultrafiltration processes: Insights from experiments and predictive modeling

Researchers combined laboratory experiments with artificial neural network modeling to study how five commonly overlooked types of microplastics are removed during drinking water treatment. They found that coagulation alone removed 37-56% of the microplastics, while adding ultrafiltration removed virtually all remaining particles. The study provides new insights into the chemical and physical interactions that drive microplastic removal, which could help optimize water treatment processes.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Solving urban water microplastics with bacterial cellulose hydrogels: Leveraging predictive computational models

Researchers developed bacterial cellulose hydrogels from membrane remnants as sustainable bioflocculants for removing microplastics from urban water, using computational models to predict and optimize removal efficiency under varying conditions.

2022 Chemosphere 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Is froth flotation a potential scheme for microplastics removal? Analysis on flotation kinetics and surface characteristics

This study evaluated froth flotation as a method for removing microplastics from water, finding that surface hydrophobicity governs flotation efficiency and that the technique shows promise as a scalable treatment option for certain polymer types.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 76 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of microplastic surface interactions in water and potential capturing methods

This review examines how microplastics behave as colloidal particles in water, generating surface charges that drive interactions with other contaminants and environmental constituents. The study explains that classical colloidal theory can help predict microplastic behavior, and that surface modifications from environmental exposure influence how these particles interact in water systems. Several removal techniques including coagulation, filtration, and air flotation are discussed as potential methods for capturing microplastics in water treatment.

2023 Water Science and Engineering 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluating the Efficiency of Enhanced Coagulation for Nanoplastics Removal Using Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometry was used to quantify fluorescently labeled nanoplastics removal during enhanced coagulation-flocculation water treatment, demonstrating that this technique enables accurate detection and process optimization for nanoplastic removal in drinking water treatment.

2025 ACS ES&T Water 3 citations