Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microalgae-based bioremediation of refractory pollutants: an approach towards environmental sustainability

This review examines how microalgae can be used to clean up hard-to-remove pollutants, including microplastics, from contaminated environments. The authors highlight that microalgae-based bioremediation is a sustainable, eco-friendly approach that could help address the growing problem of microplastic pollution in waterways.

2025 Microbial Cell Factories 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the potential of microalgae in removal of microplastics from the environment and scope of this entity as feedstock for biofuel production

This review explores the potential of microalgae to capture and remove microplastics from aquatic environments, examining the mechanisms by which algal cells adsorb or aggregate plastic particles and discussing the feasibility of algae-based remediation at scale.

2025
Article Tier 2

Recent Advances in Micro-/Nanoplastic (MNPs) Removal by Microalgae and Possible Integrated Routes of Energy Recovery

This review examined the interactions between micro- and nanoplastics and microalgae, covering how microalgae are affected by plastic particles and how they can in turn be used to remove plastics from aquatic environments. The authors identify microalgae-based systems as promising tools for combined plastic removal and biomass production.

2022 Microorganisms 51 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal of Microplastics from Industrial Wastewater Using Microalgae

This review examines the use of microalgae as a sustainable biological approach for removing microplastics from wastewater, covering mechanisms of MP attachment to algal surfaces, factors affecting removal efficiency, and prospects for integrating algae cultivation with wastewater treatment.

2025
Article Tier 2

Eradicating microplastics in wastewater: microalgae as a sustainable strategy

This review examines the use of microalgae as a sustainable strategy for removing microplastics from wastewater, discussing biosorption mechanisms, removal efficiencies, and the limitations of conventional treatment plants that typically achieve only up to 90% MP removal.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Traversing the potential of phytoremediation and phycoremediation as pioneering technologies in microplastic mitigation – A critical review

This review examines how plants and algae can be used as natural tools to capture and remove microplastics from contaminated environments. Researchers analyzed the mechanisms by which plant roots trap microplastics in soil and how algae bind to and immobilize plastic particles in water. The study suggests that these biological remediation approaches offer sustainable, low-cost alternatives to conventional cleanup methods, though further research is needed to scale them up.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding microplastic pollution: Tracing the footprints and eco-friendly solutions

This review covers the sources, health impacts, detection methods, and biological removal strategies for microplastic pollution. Biological approaches using algae, bacteria, and fungi show promise for breaking down microplastics in wastewater treatment plants, which could help reduce the amount of these particles that ultimately reach humans through contaminated water and food.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Efficiency of Microalgae Employment in Nutrient Removal (Nitrogen and Phosphorous) from Municipal Wastewater

This review examines how microalgae (tiny aquatic plants) can be used to remove nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants from municipal wastewater. While not directly about microplastics, this research is relevant because effective wastewater treatment is one way to reduce the amount of microplastics that reach waterways and eventually the food chain.

2025 Water 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential of Microalgae in Bioremediation of Wastewater

This review evaluates the potential of microalgae for wastewater bioremediation, covering their capacity to remove nutrients, heavy metals, and emerging contaminants including microplastics from a range of wastewater types.

2021 BULLETIN OF CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING AND CATALYSIS 63 citations
Review Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on microalgae populations: A critical review

This critical review examines how microplastics affect microalgae populations, which are essential primary producers at the base of aquatic food webs. Researchers found that microplastics can reduce algal growth, impair photosynthesis, and cause oxidative stress, with effects varying by plastic type, size, and concentration. The study highlights that harm to microalgae from plastic pollution could have cascading effects throughout entire aquatic ecosystems.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 452 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the Potential of Algae in the Mitigation of Plastic Pollution in Aquatic Environments

This review examined how algae can help mitigate plastic pollution in aquatic environments, finding that certain algal species can adsorb, degrade, or entrap microplastics, suggesting potential bioremediation applications though large-scale effectiveness remains to be demonstrated.

2022 Practice, progress, and proficiency in sustainability 6 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical review of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems: Degradation mechanisms and removing strategies

This review summarizes methods for removing microplastics from water, including physical filtering, chemical treatments, and biological breakdown by bacteria, fungi, and enzymes. Effective removal of microplastics from water is important for human health because these tiny particles are eaten by fish and other seafood, eventually entering the human food chain.

2024 Environmental Science and Ecotechnology 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Biotechnological methods to remove microplastics: a review

This review examines biotechnological approaches to removing microplastics from the environment, including using algae, fungi, and bacteria that can break down plastic particles. The paper also discusses cutting-edge methods like gene editing to enhance microbial degradation abilities, which could eventually help reduce the amount of microplastics that accumulate in food and water sources.

2023 Environmental Chemistry Letters 216 citations
Article Tier 2

Biological and Nutritional Applications of Microalgae

This review covers the nutritional and health benefits of microalgae, which are tiny photosynthetic organisms rich in proteins, vitamins, and beneficial compounds. While not directly about microplastics, microalgae are relevant to the pollution discussion because they interact with microplastics in water environments and are being explored as sustainable alternatives to plastic-based products.

2024 Nutrients 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential for Using Algae to Reduce Microplastics in the Environment

This review described how algae can reduce microplastic pollution through two mechanisms: physical adsorption and entrapment of particles into aggregates that sink, and enzymatic degradation of polymers. Additionally, algae can serve as feedstocks for producing bioplastics, offering a dual role in both plastic remediation and sustainable material production.

2025 Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology)
Article Tier 2

Are algae a promising ecofriendly approach to micro/nanoplastic remediation?

This review examines the potential of algae as an eco-friendly approach to removing micro- and nanoplastics from wastewater treatment plant effluents, covering mechanisms including interception, entanglement, and heteroaggregation. Algae also offer the added benefit of nutrient recovery from wastewater and can be further processed into biochar or biofertilizer.

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

Microalgae for bioremediation: advances, challenges, and public perception on genetic engineering

This review examined the potential of microalgae to clean up contaminated wastewater as a sustainable alternative to traditional treatment methods. Researchers found that microalgae can effectively remove nutrients and contaminants including microplastics, and that genetic engineering could further enhance their remediation capabilities. The study also discusses public perception and safety considerations around using genetically modified microalgae at industrial scale.

2024 BMC Plant Biology 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Applications of the Microalgae Chlamydomonas and Its Bacterial Consortia in Detoxification and Bioproduction

This review explores how the microalga Chlamydomonas and its bacterial partners can be used for wastewater cleanup, biofertilizer production, and generating useful biological products. While not directly about microplastics, these algae-bacteria systems show promise for treating contaminated water that contains microplastics along with other pollutants. The research highlights biological approaches that could help reduce microplastic pollution in water systems.

2024 Life 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Microalgae wastewater treatment: Biological and technological approaches

This review examines how microalgae-based systems can be used to treat industrial wastewater, including water contaminated with microplastics and heavy metals. Researchers highlight the potential of both conventional and extremophilic microalgae species that thrive in harsh conditions like high temperatures or acidic environments. The study discusses practical applications where algae-based treatment has already been implemented, offering a biological approach to addressing water pollution challenges.

2019 Engineering in Life Sciences 339 citations
Article Tier 2

Implication of microplastic toxicity on functioning of microalgae in aquatic system

This review examined how microplastics interact with and affect microalgae, which serve as primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Researchers analyzed the toxic effects of both single and mixed plastic particles on microalgae cells, including impacts on photosynthesis, growth, and cellular function. The study highlights that microplastic toxicity to microalgae could have cascading effects throughout aquatic food webs.

2022 Environmental Pollution 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Application of microalgae in wastewater treatment with special reference to emerging contaminants: a step towards sustainability

This review highlights how various microalgae species can help remove emerging contaminants from wastewater, including microplastics, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and harmful chemicals. The organisms use mechanisms like biosorption, bioaccumulation, and biodegradation to break down or capture these pollutants. The authors connect these microalgae-based treatment technologies to broader sustainability goals, while noting that scaling from lab to industrial applications remains a challenge.

2024 Frontiers in Analytical Science 24 citations
Review Tier 2

Microplastics – An emerging contaminants for algae. Critical review and perspectives

This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics affect algae, which are the foundation of aquatic food chains. Microplastics can reduce algae growth, disrupt photosynthesis, and cause oxidative stress, with smaller nanoplastics being more harmful. Since algae are at the base of the food web, damage to them can ripple through ecosystems and ultimately affect the seafood that humans consume.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Are native microalgae consortia able to remove microplastics from wastewater effluents?

Researchers investigated whether native microalgae communities found in wastewater could effectively remove microplastics from treatment plant effluent. The study monitored microplastic occurrence across two different types of wastewater treatment plants over one year, characterizing particles by shape, size, and polymer type. Evidence indicates that wastewater-native microalgae consortia show potential as a dual-purpose solution for both microplastic mitigation and biomass production.

2024 Environmental Pollution 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal of microplastics with microalgae and biofuel production

This review examines the potential of microalgae to simultaneously remove microplastics from water while serving as a feedstock for biofuel production, evaluating both the biosorption mechanisms involved and the downstream feasibility of converting biomass to energy.

2025