Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The Ultraviolet Irradiation Aging Characteristics of Microplastics in Soil under the Action of Biochar

Researchers characterized how microplastics change physically and chemically under ultraviolet irradiation aging, documenting surface cracking, yellowing, and shifts in chemical functional groups. These aging signatures are important for understanding the environmental fate and increased toxicity of weathered microplastics.

2025 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined effect of biochar and soil moisture on soil chemical properties and microbial community composition in microplastic‐contaminated agricultural soil

Biochar was applied to microplastic-contaminated agricultural soil under different moisture conditions, with results showing that biochar improved soil chemical properties and shifted microbial communities in ways that partially offset microplastic-induced degradation. The study suggests biochar as a practical soil amendment to mitigate microplastic impacts in farming systems.

2022 Soil Use and Management 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar mitigates microplastic‐induced destabilization of soil organic carbon via molecular recalcitrance and microbial process regulation

Biochar amendments to soil were shown to offset the destabilizing effects that microplastics have on soil aggregate structure. The finding suggests that biochar could be a practical soil amendment to counteract microplastic-driven soil degradation in contaminated agricultural lands.

2025 Functional Ecology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar alters chemical and microbial properties of microplastic-contaminated soil

Researchers found that biochar amendments improved chemical and microbial properties of microplastic-contaminated soil, with effects varying by biochar type and water conditions, suggesting biochar as a potential remediation tool for plastic-polluted agricultural soils.

2022 Environmental Research 108 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of Biochar and Microbes in Remediation of Microplastics in Soil

This review examines how biochar and soil microbes can be combined to remediate microplastic-contaminated soils, synthesizing evidence for biochar's adsorption capacity and microbial degradation pathways that reduce microplastic persistence and toxicity.

2025 Journal of Innovative Solutions for Eco-Environmental Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Biochar Influences Polyethylene Microplastic-Contaminated Soil Properties and Enzyme Activities

This study examined how biochar additions modify the properties of polyethylene microplastic-contaminated soil and affect plant growth, finding that biochar partially mitigated microplastic-induced soil degradation and improved plant performance. Biochar shows promise as a low-cost soil amendment to counteract microplastic impacts.

2024 Agronomy 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Applications of biochar in the remediation of soil microplastic pollution: A review

Researchers reviewed the use of biochar as a tool for remediating microplastic-contaminated soil. The study found that biochar application shows promise for addressing soil microplastic pollution by altering soil properties in ways that can reduce microplastic mobility and mitigate their negative effects on soil structure, plant growth, and biogeochemical cycling.

2025 Soil Science Society of America Journal 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Pyrolysis temperature matters: Biochar-derived dissolved organic matter modulates aging behavior and biotoxicity of microplastics

Researchers found that dissolved organic matter from biochar (a charcoal-like soil additive) affects how microplastics age in the environment by generating reactive oxygen species that alter the plastic surfaces. Importantly, microplastics aged in the presence of biochar-derived compounds caused significantly more inflammation and tissue damage in living organisms than freshly made microplastics. This means microplastics in the real world, where they interact with soil compounds, may be more toxic than laboratory tests with clean plastic particles suggest.

2023 Water Research 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Self-motivated photoaging of microplastics by biochar-dissolved organic matter under different pyrolysis temperatures

Researchers investigated how dissolved organic matter from biochar affects the photoaging of polystyrene microplastics under different conditions. The study found that biochar produced at lower pyrolysis temperatures significantly accelerated microplastic degradation, suggesting that biochar-derived organic matter may play an important role in the environmental weathering and breakdown of plastic particles.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced degradation of polylactic acid microplastics in acidic soils: Does the application of biochar matter?

Researchers studied how adding biochar to acidic soil affects the breakdown of polylactic acid microplastics over one year. They found that both chicken manure and wood waste biochars accelerated the degradation of the biodegradable microplastics by altering soil chemistry and microbial activity. The findings suggest that biochar could be a useful tool for speeding up the decomposition of biodegradable plastic residues in agricultural soils.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions between white and black carbon in water: A case study of concurrent aging of microplastics and biochar

Researchers investigated the concurrent aging of microplastics and biochar in water under UV light, finding that their interaction significantly altered dissolved organic matter release and fluorescence properties, affecting their environmental behavior.

2023 Water Research 47 citations
Article Tier 2

The weathering process of polyethylene microplastics in the paddy soil system: Does the coexistence of pyrochar or hydrochar matter?

Researchers conducted a 24-week paddy soil weathering experiment with polyethylene microplastics in the presence or absence of pyrochar or hydrochar, finding that weathering roughened and discolored PE particle surfaces, and that weathered PE microplastics showed altered sorption capacity toward cadmium, bisphenol A, and dimethyl phthalate compared to original particles.

2022 Environmental Pollution 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of biochar on microplastics penetration treatment within soil porous medium under the wetting-drying cycles and optimisation of soil-biochar mixing format

Researchers tested whether plant-based biochar mixed into soil could prevent microplastics from moving deeper into the ground during repeated wetting and drying cycles that mimic seasonal rainfall. They found that biochar significantly improved microplastic retention in the soil, and experimented with different soil-biochar mixing configurations to optimize performance. The study suggests that biochar amendments could be a practical strategy for reducing microplastic migration through agricultural soils.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of biodegradable microplastics coexistence with biochars produced at low and high temperatures on bacterial community structure and phenanthrene degradation in soil

Researchers investigated how biodegradable microplastics interact with biochar in soil to affect bacterial communities and pollutant degradation. The study found that the coexistence of PBAT microplastics and biochar significantly altered soil microbial structure and influenced the degradation of phenanthrene, suggesting complex interactions between these increasingly common soil amendments.

2024 Journal of Environmental Management 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyethylene microplastics hamper aged biochar’s potential in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions

Polyethylene microplastics (1–5% by weight) significantly reduced the greenhouse gas-mitigating benefits of aged biochar in agricultural soil, decreasing soil aggregation and altering dissolved organic matter dynamics—raising concerns about microplastic interference with biochar-based carbon sequestration strategies.

2025 Carbon Research 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Photodegradation modifies microplastic effects on soil properties and plant performance

Researchers examined how UV-driven photodegradation alters the effects of microplastics on soil properties and plant growth. The study found that degraded plastic fibers increased soil water retention and respiration more than their non-degraded counterparts, while degraded foams reduced soil aggregation, demonstrating that the environmental weathering state of microplastics is an important factor in determining their ecological impact.

2023 Journal of Applied Ecology 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Soil aggregation alterations under soil microplastic and biochar addition and aging process

An eight-month experiment found that polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics disrupted soil structure by breaking apart soil clumps, and this damage worsened as the plastics aged over time. Surprisingly, adding biochar, which is often proposed as a soil improvement, actually made some of the microplastic damage worse for certain soil aggregate sizes. This research shows that microplastic contamination in agricultural soil can degrade soil health in ways that may be difficult to reverse.

2025 Environmental Pollution 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochar's Effects and Operations on Microbial Life within the Soil Ecosystem- A Review

Not directly relevant to microplastics — this review examines how biochar additions to soil affect microbial community structure, enzymatic activity, and contaminant transformation, without a specific focus on microplastics.

2023 International Journal of Plant & Soil Science
Article Tier 2

The individual transport, cotransport and immobilization with solar pyrolysis biochar of microplastics and plasticizer in sandy soil

Researchers tracked the individual transport, co-transport, and immobilization of microplastics in porous media, finding that plastic particle behavior differs significantly depending on surface charge and pore structure interactions. The results improve predictions of where microplastics migrate and accumulate in soils and aquifers.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of photoaging on structure and characteristics of biofilms on microplastic in soil: Biomass and microbial community

Scientists studied how sunlight aging changes the way bacteria colonize microplastics in soil, finding that weathered plastics attracted different bacterial communities than fresh plastics. Aged microplastics initially supported less biofilm growth but developed bacteria with greater ability to break down carbon compounds. This research helps explain how microplastics behave differently in real-world soil conditions versus lab settings, which matters for understanding how plastics affect agricultural land and the food grown in it.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the potential of biochar for the remediation of microbial communities and element cycling in microplastic-contaminated soil

Scientists found that adding biochar (a charcoal-like material made from plant waste) to soil contaminated with microplastics helped restore healthy microbial communities and nutrient cycling. The biochar reversed negative effects that microplastics had on soil chemistry, including nitrogen and phosphorus availability. This suggests biochar could be a practical tool for repairing farmland damaged by microplastic pollution.

2024 Chemosphere 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Advances and prospects of biochar in improving soil fertility, biochemical quality, and environmental applications

This review examines how biochar, a charcoal-like material made from organic waste, can improve soil health and clean up pollutants including microplastics. Biochar's ability to absorb and trap contaminants makes it a promising tool for reducing microplastic pollution in agricultural soil. The findings suggest biochar could help limit the amount of microplastics that enter the food chain through crops grown in contaminated soil.

2023 Frontiers in Environmental Science 127 citations
Article Tier 2

The Removal and Mitigation Effects of Biochar on Microplastics in Water and Soils: Application and Mechanism Analysis

This review examines how biochar can be used to both remove microplastics from water and mitigate their harmful effects in soils. Researchers found that woody biochar was the most effective type for adsorbing microplastics, while also helping to restore soil enzyme activities and microbial communities disrupted by plastic contamination. The study calls for further research into optimizing biochar applications and understanding the long-term environmental implications of biochar-microplastic interactions.

2024 Sustainability 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport and retardation of microplastic in biochar

Researchers studied how biochar — a carbon material made from burned biomass — slows the movement of microplastics through soil and water systems. Biochar's ability to retard microplastic transport could help prevent plastic particles from spreading from contaminated agricultural land into waterways.

2023 Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) 1 citations