Papers

20 results
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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

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

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

Plasma-assisted destruction of polystyrene nanoplastics

Researchers developed a plasma-based method to destroy polystyrene nanoplastics in water, achieving a 98.4% removal rate within one hour of treatment. The process breaks the nanoplastics down into very short polymer fragments, and proved more effective than traditional ozone treatment. The study presents a promising new technology for addressing nanoplastic contamination in water purification systems.

2024 Nanoscale 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Degradation of Polystyrene Nanoplastics in UV/NaClO and UV/PMS Systems: Insights into Degradation Efficiency, Mechanism, and Toxicity Evaluation

Researchers tested two advanced oxidation methods for breaking down polystyrene nanoplastics in water and found that while both effectively reduced water cloudiness, neither completely destroyed the plastic particles. The UV/PMS system achieved about 29% mineralization compared to only 7% for UV/NaClO, though both generated some toxic byproducts. The study suggests that advanced oxidation processes show promise for nanoplastic removal from water but require further optimization to achieve complete degradation.

2023 Water 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of ozonation on the morphological characteristics and adsorption behavior of polystyrene microplastics in aqueous environments

Researchers exposed polystyrene microplastics to ozone treatment and found that the aging process made the particles smaller, more negatively charged, and better at absorbing pollutants from water — meaning weathered microplastics in the environment may carry more harmful chemicals than fresh ones.

2025 Applied Water Science 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Current Approaches and Challenges in Advanced Oxidation Processes for Nanoplastic Degradation

This review evaluates current methods for breaking down nanoplastics in water, including ozonation, electrochemical treatment, photocatalysis, and plasma-based processes. Researchers found that while these advanced oxidation techniques show promise, significant gaps remain in treating plastic particles smaller than one micrometer. The study highlights the urgent need for better analytical methods and more effective treatment technologies to address nanoplastic pollution in water sources.

2025 Advanced Science 4 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

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

Microplastics Degradation in Water: A Review of Advanced Oxidative Processes and Ozonation for Effective Treatment

This review examines advanced oxidative processes (AOPs) and ozonation as emerging technologies for degrading microplastics in drinking water and aquatic environments, covering both identification and quantification methods alongside treatment efficacy. The authors assess the challenges and capabilities of these approaches in addressing the growing concern over microplastic contamination in water supplies.

2025 Asian Journal of Chemistry
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

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

Recent advances and challenges in advanced oxidation processes for degradation of nano- and microplastics in water: a critical review

This critical review evaluates four main advanced oxidation processes — ozonation, photocatalysis, Fenton reactions, and electrochemical oxidation — for breaking down nano- and microplastics in water, summarizing what has been achieved and where major technical gaps remain. Developing effective degradation technologies is urgently needed because conventional water treatment systems do not reliably remove small plastic particles.

2026 RSC Advances
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

Current Approaches and Challenges in Advanced Oxidation Processes for Nanoplastic Degradation

This review examined advanced oxidation processes as techniques for breaking down nanoplastics, including ozonation, electrochemical, photocatalytic, and plasma-based methods. Researchers found that while these approaches show promise for nanoplastic remediation, significant gaps remain in understanding their effectiveness on different plastic types and sizes. The study highlights the need for more standardized research to develop scalable solutions for nanoplastic pollution.

2025 2 citations
Article Tier 2

A comparative study on the stability and coagulation removal of aged vs. nonaged nanoplastics in surface water

Researchers used palladium-doped nanoplastics as tracers to compare how environmentally aged and pristine nanoplastics behave during water treatment coagulation. They found that ozone-aged nanoplastics developed more oxygen-containing surface groups, making them harder to remove through conventional coagulation, while solar-aged particles showed mainly physical changes. The study suggests that current drinking water treatment processes may be less effective at removing aged nanoplastics than fresh ones.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Natural Pyrolusite-Catalyzed Ozonation for Nanoplastics Degradation

This study tested a new water treatment method that uses a natural mineral called pyrolusite combined with ozone to break down nanoplastics. Researchers found that this approach removed up to 75% of total organic carbon from polystyrene nanoplastics in just 30 minutes, and the mineral catalyst could be reused multiple times with minimal loss in effectiveness. The results suggest this could be a sustainable, environmentally friendly strategy for removing nanoplastics from drinking water.

2025 Catalysts 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Treatment of microplastics in water by anodic oxidation: A case study for polystyrene

Anodic oxidation (electrooxidation) was tested as a method for degrading polystyrene microplastics suspended in water. The electrochemical treatment showed progressive microplastic degradation, demonstrating potential for electrooxidation as a water treatment approach targeting suspended plastic particles.

2020 Environmental Pollution 190 citations
Article Tier 2

Application of advanced oxidation processes for the removal of micro/nanoplastics from water: A review

This review summarizes methods for breaking down and removing microplastics and nanoplastics from water using advanced chemical processes that generate powerful cleaning agents like hydroxyl radicals. While these methods can shrink and partially degrade plastic particles, they cannot yet fully break them down, meaning some residue remains. The research is important for developing better water treatment systems that could reduce human exposure to microplastics through drinking water.

2023 Chemosphere 42 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