Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

The Effect of Different Aging Methods on the Heavy Metal Adsorption Capacity of Microplastics

Polystyrene and polylactic acid microplastics were aged under UV and high-temperature conditions, and aged microplastics showed altered surface properties that affected their adsorption capacity for heavy metals cadmium, copper, and zinc.

2024 Land Degradation and Development 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the influence of sludge dewatering agents on Microplastic aging under hydrothermal treatment: Insights from Polylactic Acid microplastics

This study examined how industrial wastewater sludge treatment chemicals (dewatering agents) interact with hydrothermal processing to alter the physical and chemical properties of polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics in sludge. The findings matter because different treatment chemistries transform microplastic surfaces in distinct ways — affecting their porosity, reactivity, and persistence — which has implications for how microplastics behave after leaving wastewater treatment facilities.

2023 Environmental Research 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging properties of polyethylene and polylactic acid microplastics and their adsorption behavior of Cd(II) and Cr(VI) in aquatic environments

Researchers compared how polyethylene and polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics age in the environment and how that aging affects their ability to absorb heavy metals like cadmium and chromium from water. They found that aging changed the surface chemistry of both plastic types, increasing their capacity to pick up these toxic metals. The findings matter because aged microplastics in the environment may concentrate and transport more pollutants than fresh plastic particles.

2024 Chemosphere 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging characteristics of polylatic acid microplastics and their adsorption on hydrophilic organic pollutants: mechanistic investigations and theoretical calculations

Researchers characterized how polylactic acid microplastics undergo UV and thermal aging in aquatic environments, finding that aging altered surface chemistry, increased hydrophilicity, and enhanced adsorption of heavy metal pollutants—raising concerns about aged biodegradable plastics as carriers of co-contaminants.

2025 Environmental Pollution 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of poly(lactic acid) microplastics on organic compound leaching and heavy metal distribution during hydrothermal treatment of sludge

Biodegradable poly(lactic acid) microplastics (PLA-MPs) introduced into sewage sludge during hydrothermal treatment release lactic acid and other organic breakdown products that lower pH and alter the distribution of heavy metals like cadmium and copper. This means that PLA — often promoted as an environmentally safe plastic — can still mobilise toxic contaminants during waste treatment, complicating assumptions about its safety relative to conventional plastics.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced copper adsorption by polyamide and polylactic acid microplastics: The role of biofilm development and chemical aging

Researchers studied how chemical aging and biofilm growth on polyamide and polylactic acid microplastics changed their ability to absorb copper from water. Both processes significantly increased the surface area and chemical reactivity of the plastics, making them absorb substantially more copper than fresh microplastics. The study suggests that as microplastics age and develop biofilms in natural waterways, they become increasingly effective at concentrating heavy metals, potentially altering how these contaminants move through aquatic environments.

2025 Environmental Research 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhancement in adsorption potential of microplastics in sewage sludge for metal pollutants after the wastewater treatment process

Microplastics in sewage sludge from wastewater treatment were found to have significantly higher adsorption capacity for cadmium, lead, and cobalt compared to virgin MPs, with sludge-based MPs reaching up to 2.523 mg/g Cd adsorption capacity—an order of magnitude higher. The study reveals that the wastewater treatment process chemically transforms microplastics into more potent heavy metal carriers.

2019 Water Research 353 citations
Article Tier 2

Study on the Adsorption Behavior and Mechanism of Heavy Metals in Aquatic Environment before and after the Aging of Typical Microplastics

Researchers investigated the adsorption behavior and mechanisms of heavy metals by typical microplastics before and after environmental aging, finding that aging significantly alters microplastics' surface properties and capacity to bind metals such as cadmium and lead in aquatic systems.

2024
Article Tier 2

Influence of sludge treatment methods on behaviors of microplastics adsorbed cadmium and its driving factors

Researchers examined how four sludge treatment methods -- anaerobic digestion, thermal drying, thermal hydrolysis, and aerobic composting -- alter the surface chemistry of microplastics and their capacity to adsorb cadmium, finding that thermal hydrolysis caused the greatest increase in oxygen-containing functional groups and yielded the highest cadmium adsorption at 767 micrograms per gram, with certain bacterial genera linked to enhanced metal adsorption capacity.

2022 Journal of Environmental Management 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption properties and mechanism of Cu(II) on virgin and aged microplastics in the aquatic environment

Researchers examined how UV aging changes the surface properties of polyamide and polylactic acid microplastics and affects their ability to adsorb copper ions in water. The study found that UV irradiation altered the physical and chemical characteristics of both plastic types, increasing their capacity to bind heavy metals. Evidence indicates that weathered microplastics may act as more effective carriers of heavy metal contaminants in aquatic environments compared to virgin plastics.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling Complexation and Contaminant Vector Potentialin Aged Polyamide-Heavy Metal Interactions

Researchers found that aged polyamide (PA) microplastics exhibited enhanced adsorption capacity for cadmium and copper compared to pristine PA, with increased surface roughness from aging promoting stronger metal binding via electrostatic interactions, and environmental factors such as pH influencing subsequent metal desorption.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behavior of UV aged microplastics on the heavy metals Pb(II) and Cu(II) in aqueous solutions

Researchers examined how UV aging affects the adsorption of lead and copper onto polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene microplastics, finding that aging creates new oxidation functional groups that enhance heavy metal adsorption capacity.

2022 Chemosphere 130 citations
Article Tier 2

Adsorption properties and mechanism of Cu(Ⅱ) on virgin and aged microplastics in the aquatic environment

This study examined how UV aging of polyamide (PA) and polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics affects their ability to adsorb copper (Cu II) from water. UV aging increased surface area and altered surface chemistry, making aged microplastics better carriers of copper contamination — raising concerns that weathered plastics in the environment may concentrate and transport heavy metals more effectively than fresh plastics.

2023 Research Square (Research Square) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The effect of UV exposure on conventional and degradable microplastics adsorption for Pb (II) in sediment

Researchers studied how UV aging affects the ability of conventional polyethylene and degradable polylactic acid microplastics to adsorb lead ions from aquatic sediment. They found that UV aging increased the surface area and oxygen content of both plastic types, enhancing their capacity to adsorb heavy metals. The study suggests that weathered microplastics in the environment may be more effective carriers of heavy metal contamination than pristine particles.

2021 Chemosphere 84 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling Complexation and Contaminant Vector Potential in Aged Polyamide-Heavy Metal Interactions

Researchers found that heat-aged polyamide microplastics exhibit enhanced adsorption capacity for cadmium and copper compared to virgin material, with copper showing higher adsorption efficiency due to its smaller hydrated ionic radius and strong coordination with oxygen- and nitrogen-containing surface groups on the aged polymer.

2025 ACS Omega
Article Tier 2

Adsorption/desorption behavior of degradable polylactic acid microplastics on bisphenol A under different aging conditions

Researchers studied how different types of UV-simulated aging affect the ability of polylactic acid microplastics to adsorb and release bisphenol A. The study found that aging conditions changed the surface properties of the biodegradable plastic, altering its interaction with this common environmental contaminant. The findings suggest that even biodegradable microplastics can act as carriers of harmful chemicals depending on their degradation state.

2024 New Journal of Chemistry 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparison of lead adsorption on the aged conventional microplastics, biodegradable microplastics and environmentally-relevant tire wear particles

Researchers compared how different types of aged microplastics, including tire wear particles and biodegradable polylactic acid, adsorb the heavy metal lead from water. The study found that aging significantly increased adsorption capacity across all types, with tire wear particles showing the highest lead uptake, and that environmental factors like humic acid concentration had complex effects on the adsorption process.

2023 Chemical Engineering Journal 123 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics aged in various environmental media exhibited strong sorption to heavy metals in seawater

Researchers aged six types of microplastics — including polyamide and PET — in different environments and then measured their adsorption of heavy metals in seawater, finding that aging consistently increased metal sorption capacity and that environmental medium during aging strongly influenced the degree of surface modification.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 178 citations
Article Tier 2

Study on Adsorption of Heavy Metals Cu and Zn by Microplastics Under Different Aged Factors

Researchers examined how aging of polyethylene microplastics under different conditions -- varying pH, dissolved organic matter, and hydrogen peroxide -- affects their adsorption of Cu and Zn, finding that H2O2-induced aging most strongly enhanced heavy metal sorption capacity.

2023 E3S Web of Conferences 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging mechanism of microplastics with UV irradiation and its effects on the adsorption of heavy metals

Researchers aged polystyrene microplastics using UV irradiation under three conditions (air, pure water, seawater) and found that aging changed surface chemistry and increased the microplastics' capacity to adsorb heavy metals, with seawater aging producing the most pronounced surface oxidation.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 852 citations
Article Tier 2

In situ formed sulfide–mediated aging of polystyrene microplastics and its impact on the fate of heavy metals in anaerobic digestion

Researchers investigated how polystyrene microplastics undergo chemical transformation in anaerobic digesters through sulfide-mediated aging, and how this aging affects heavy metal adsorption. In the presence of sulfate, sulfide produced during digestion oxidized the PS surface, increasing its affinity for lead and cadmium and potentially affecting metal fate in sludge treatment.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into interactions of biodegradable and non-biodegradable microplastics with heavy metals

Researchers found that biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics can adsorb heavy metals like cadmium, copper, and chromium at rates comparable to or exceeding conventional non-biodegradable plastics, suggesting biodegradable microplastics may also serve as carriers of toxic metals in the environment.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of biofilm on metal adsorption behavior and microbial community of microplastics

Researchers found that biofilm development on polystyrene microplastics enhanced their ability to adsorb copper and lead more than UV aging alone, with biofilm altering both the adsorption mechanisms and microbial community composition on the plastic surfaces.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 125 citations
Article Tier 2

Changes in physicochemical and leachate characteristics of microplastics during hydrothermal treatment of sewage sludge

Researchers examined hydrothermal treatment of sewage sludge containing microplastics and found that while the process degraded polyethylene, polystyrene, and PET to varying degrees, it also generated potentially harmful leachates, highlighting trade-offs in this treatment approach.

2022 Water Research 86 citations