Papers

61,005 results
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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

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
Article Tier 2

Removals of Some High- and Low-Density Polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE), Polypropylene (PP) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Microplastics Using Some Microalgae Types, Energy Production and Energy Recovery

This review examines how microalgae can remove microplastics from wastewater alongside producing biofuels, combining pollution remediation with energy generation. Microalgal systems could offer a dual-benefit approach to reducing plastic contamination in water treatment effluents.

2023 MOLECULAR SCIENCES AND APPLICATIONS 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Interplay of plastic pollution with algae and plants: hidden danger or a blessing?

Researchers tested the ability of three microalgae species to remove microplastics from water through bioadhesion, finding that all three species could adsorb particles onto their surfaces. Removal efficiency depended on particle size, surface charge, and algae cell morphology.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 65 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

Micro/nano-plastics and microalgae in aquatic environment: Influence factor, interaction, and molecular mechanisms.

This review examined the interactions between micro/nanoplastics and microalgae in aquatic environments, summarizing how plastic particle size, surface chemistry, and co-pollutants influence algal toxicity through oxidative stress, photosynthesis inhibition, and gene expression changes.

2024 The Science of the total environment
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

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

Algae for plastic biodegradation

This review examines how algae interact with microplastics in marine environments, both as organisms harmed by plastic pollution and as potential agents for plastic biodegradation. Microplastics reduce algal photosynthesis and growth, while algal extracellular polymeric substances can trap and sink microplastic particles. Algae-driven biodegradation represents a promising avenue for reducing the persistence of microplastic contamination in the ocean.

2023 2 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

Microalgae–microplastics interactions at environmentally relevant concentrations: Implications toward ecology, bioeconomy, and UN SDGs

This study investigated how microalgae interact with microplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations, examining growth inhibition, aggregation, and photosynthetic effects, with implications for aquatic ecosystem function and the feasibility of microalgae-based bioremediation.

2023 Water Research 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic interactions with freshwater microalgae: Hetero-aggregation and changes in plastic density appear strongly dependent on polymer type

Researchers studied interactions between microplastics and freshwater microalgae, finding that microplastics can physically attach to algal cells to form hetero-aggregates, altering both particle behavior and algal physiology.

2016 Environmental Pollution 704 citations
Article Tier 2

Harnessing microalgae for microplastic removal and biofuel production

This book chapter reviews how microalgae can simultaneously address microplastic removal from aquatic environments and serve as feedstock for biofuel production, presenting the dual-benefit approach as a promising strategy for sustainable environmental remediation.

2025
Article Tier 2

Distribution of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems and Their Impacts on Aquatic Organisms, with Emphasis on Microalgae

This review covers the distribution of microplastics and nanoplastics in aquatic ecosystems and their impacts on aquatic organisms from bacteria to fish, with a focus on effects on microalgae as primary producers. The authors highlight that nanoplastics may be more biologically active than microplastics due to their size and surface reactivity, warranting greater research attention.

2018 Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 67 citations
Review Tier 2

A critical review of interactions between microplastics, microalgae and aquatic ecosystem function

This review of microplastic-microalgae interactions found that microplastics form distinct epiplastic algal communities that differ from surrounding water communities, and that the interactions are bidirectional — MP properties affect algal physiology while algal surface coatings alter MP behavior and fate.

2020 Water Research 412 citations
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

A critical review on remediation of microplastics using microalgae from aqueous system

This review explores using microalgae -- tiny photosynthetic organisms -- as a natural way to remove microplastics from water. Microalgae can capture and clump microplastic particles together, making them easier to filter out. Since microplastics in water systems are a growing concern for human health through drinking water and seafood, biological removal methods like this could offer a more sustainable cleanup approach.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 61 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 for Using Algae to Reduce Microplastics in the Environment

This review examined the potential of algae to reduce microplastic pollution both by adsorbing and intercepting plastic particles in water and by serving as a feedstock for biosynthesizing biodegradable bioplastics as alternatives to petroleum-based materials.

2025 MATEC Web of Conferences
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Evaluating physiological responses of microalgae towards environmentally coexisting microplastics: A meta-analysis

A meta-analysis of 52 studies found that microplastics inhibit microalgal growth and photosynthesis and induce oxidative damage, though microalgae can recover over time. Cyanobacteria are more vulnerable than green algae, and the relative size of microplastics to algal cells governs the mechanism of impact, while aged versus pristine microplastics have opposite effects on extracellular polymeric substance and microcystin production.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of nanoplastics on microalgae and their trophic transfer along the food chain: recent advances and perspectives

This review summarized evidence on how nanoplastics affect microalgae — including growth inhibition, oxidative stress, and altered photosynthesis — and examined trophic transfer of nanoplastics up the food chain, finding that toxicity depended on NP concentration, size, and surface charge.

2021 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 41 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)
Review Tier 2

Microplastics – A major contaminant in marine macro algal population: Review

This review identified the occurrence and characteristics of microplastics in marine macroalgae, highlighting macroalgae as both indicators of MP pollution and potential entry points for microplastics into marine food webs.

2023 Marine Environmental Research 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluating the impact of innovative algae- based membrane bioreactors against the emerging microplastic crisisin combating water pollution

This study evaluated algae-based membrane bioreactors for removing microplastics and other emerging contaminants from wastewater, finding that combining algal biomass with membrane filtration improved MP removal efficiency compared to conventional biological treatment alone.

2025