Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

How does alkaline-thermal pretreatment followed by anaerobic digestion affect the content of polyethylene terephthalate and polyamide 66 microplastics?

Researchers investigated how alkaline-thermal pretreatment of sludge followed by anaerobic digestion affects PET and polyamide-66 microplastics in wastewater treatment. Different NaOH concentrations, temperatures, and retention times altered the physical and chemical characteristics of both MP types, informing strategies for reducing MP persistence in sludge destined for agricultural reuse.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of alkaline thermal hydrolysis on anaerobic digestion of mixed sludge contaminated with microplastics

Researchers tested alkaline thermal hydrolysis pretreatment on sludge containing polyethylene and PVC microplastics before anaerobic digestion, finding that the pretreatment altered how microplastics affected subsequent methane production, with effects varying by polymer type and concentration.

2025 Journal of Water Process Engineering
Article Tier 2

Impact and mechanism of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics with different particle sizes on sludge anaerobic digestion

Researchers examined how polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics of different particle sizes and physical aging states affect anaerobic digestion of municipal wastewater treatment sludge, conducting comparative experiments to elucidate the impact mechanisms. They found that PET microplastics accumulated in sludge alter the digestion process, with particle size influencing the degree of disruption to microbial activity and biogas production.

2024 Environmental Pollution 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyethylene terephthalate microplastics affect hydrogen production from alkaline anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge through altering viability and activity of anaerobic microorganisms

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics were found to inhibit hydrogen gas production from anaerobic fermentation of waste sludge by reducing the viability and activity of hydrogen-producing microorganisms. This finding suggests that PET microplastics in wastewater treatment systems could interfere with biological processes used to recover energy and resources from sewage sludge.

2019 Water Research 219 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Polyethylene Terephthalate Microplastics on Anaerobic Mono-Digestion and Co-Digestion of Fecal Sludge from Septic Tank

Tests with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics in two types of anaerobic digestion systems for fecal sludge showed that PET inhibited the production of volatile fatty acids in both systems but had different effects on biogas and methane generation depending on the setup. Since microplastics are commonly found in septic tanks, understanding how they disrupt the microbial processes that treat sewage sludge is important for maintaining effective waste management.

2024 Molecules 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in sewage sludge destined to anaerobic digestion: The potential role of thermal pretreatment

Researchers found that thermal pretreatment of sewage sludge at 120°C did not degrade conventional PET microplastics but did alter biodegradable microplastics, which also boosted methane production during anaerobic digestion, raising concerns about how different microplastic types behave in sludge treatment.

2022 Chemosphere 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the microbial response of anaerobic granular sludge during long-term exposure to polyethylene terephthalate microplastics

Researchers investigated how polyethylene terephthalate microplastics affect anaerobic granular sludge used in wastewater treatment over 84 days. The study found that at relatively low concentrations, PET microplastics had minimal impact, but at higher concentrations they disrupted the microbial community structure and reduced the efficiency of the anaerobic treatment process.

2020 Water Research 182 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-IntervenedAnaerobic Fermentation: Discrepanciesin Hydrolysis and Acidification of Acidic/Alkaline Treatment

Researchers found that PET microplastics differentially inhibit anaerobic fermentation of waste-activated sludge depending on pH conditions, with acidic hydrolysis more suppressed than alkaline hydrolysis, while alkaline acidification was more inhibited than acidic acidification. Microbial investigation confirmed that acidification-related genes were selectively reduced in alkaline environments while glycolysis genes were suppressed in acidic environments after PET addition.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Efficient Depolymerization and Low-Toxicity Leaching of Polyester Microplastics through Alkali-Hydrothermal Treatment of Sewage Sludge

Researchers developed an alkali-hydrothermal treatment method that degraded 82% of PET microplastics trapped in sewage sludge, converting them into low-toxicity dissolved organic matter. The approach works by leveraging alkalinity, metal ions, and organic matter naturally present in sludge to break down plastic through hydrolysis and radical oxidation, offering a practical strategy for reducing microplastic contamination before sludge is applied to agricultural land.

2026 Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

The entering of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics into biological wastewater treatment system affects aerobic sludge digestion differently from their direct entering into sludge treatment system

Researchers found that PET microplastics entering a biological wastewater treatment system before the sludge treatment stage affected aerobic sludge digestion differently than microplastics added directly to the sludge, highlighting that the treatment pathway determines the nature of microplastic impacts on sludge processing systems.

2020 Water Research 84 citations
Article Tier 2

Thermal hydrolysis alleviates polyethylene microplastic-induced stress in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

Scientists found that pretreating waste sludge with heat before anaerobic digestion reduced the negative effects that polyethylene microplastics have on the process. The thermal treatment improved methane production and helped maintain healthy microbial communities even in the presence of microplastics. The study suggests that thermal hydrolysis could be a practical strategy for wastewater treatment plants dealing with microplastic-contaminated sludge.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic-Intervened Anaerobic Fermentation: Discrepancies in Hydrolysis and Acidification of Acidic/Alkaline Treatment

Researchers investigated how PET microplastics differentially affect hydrolysis and acidification stages of acidic versus alkaline anaerobic fermentation of waste-activated sludge, finding that acidic fermentation hydrolysis was more inhibited while alkaline fermentation acidification was more suppressed. Microbial analysis revealed that PET reduced acidification-associated gene expression (pta, aceE, aceF) only under alkaline conditions, while glycolysis genes were suppressed predominantly under acidic conditions.

2025 ACS ES&T Water
Article Tier 2

MicroplasticDegradation through Thermal Hydrolysisin Sewage Sludge and Its Impact on the Anaerobic Process

Researchers investigated the fate of microplastics in sewage sludge during thermal hydrolysis pretreatment and found that temperatures of 140-180°C significantly degraded microplastics while also affecting subsequent anaerobic biogas production from the treated sludge.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Thermally aged PET microplastics disrupt methanogenic syntrophy via toxic leachates: Microbial assembly dynamics unravel biotoxicity in anaerobic digestion

Researchers found that thermally aged PET microplastics disrupted methane production during anaerobic digestion more severely than pristine microplastics. The aging process increased reactive oxygen species levels and released toxic chemical compounds that interfered with the microbial communities responsible for biogas production, with longer aging periods causing greater inhibition of methane upgrading.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Inhibition of aged microplastics and leachates on methane production from anaerobic digestion of sludge and identification of key components

Researchers investigated the effects of aged microplastics and their leachates on sludge anaerobic digestion, finding that aged PVC and PET significantly inhibited methane production, with phthalate esters and bisphenol A identified as key inhibitory components.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Thermal hydrolysis intensifies the targeted inhibition of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics on anaerobic methanogenesis in sludge: Path identification and quantitative mechanism research

Researchers found that thermal hydrolysis pretreatment intensifies the inhibitory effects of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics on anaerobic methanogenesis in sludge by altering transformation pathways, and quantified the relative contributions of these pathways using isotopic labeling and metabolic flux analysis.

2025 Environmental Research
Article Tier 2

Effect of microplastic on anaerobic digestion of wasted activated sludge

This study investigated how varying doses of microplastics affect methane production during anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge, testing concentrations from 0 to 100,000 particles per gram. Higher microplastic doses progressively inhibited methane production, suggesting that high microplastic loads in wastewater treatment sludge can impair biogas recovery.

2020 Chemosphere 147 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Behavior in Sludge Pretreatment and Anaerobic Digestion: Impacts, Mechanistic Insights, and Mitigation Strategies

This review examines how microplastics behave during sludge pretreatment and anaerobic digestion, finding that microplastics frequently persist through these processes and can affect methane production and microbial communities when present at elevated concentrations, calling for mitigation strategies in wastewater treatment.

2025 Sustainability 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Systematic study of microplastics on methane production in anaerobic digestion: Performance and microbial response

Microplastics are increasingly found in wastewater treatment systems, and this study systematically examined how different types, concentrations, and sizes of microplastics affect the anaerobic digestion process used to break down sewage sludge and generate biogas. Polyethylene microplastics were found to inhibit methane production, with finer particles and higher concentrations causing greater disruption to the microbial communities driving digestion. The findings matter because microplastics in sewage sludge can impair the treatment process and also end up spread on agricultural land when sludge is used as fertilizer.

2025 Journal of environmental chemical engineering 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodegradation of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics by bacterial communities from activated sludge

Bacterial communities from activated sludge were shown to grow on PET microplastics as a sole carbon source and achieved measurable biodegradation of heat-pretreated PET fragments in a standardized CO₂ evolution test, identifying activated sludge as a source of PET-degrading microbes.

2020 The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 61 citations
Article Tier 2

The Potential of Ozonation to Reduce Impact of Waste Sludge-Entrapped Microplastics to Biogas Production

Wastewater treatment plants concentrate microplastics from sewage into the resulting sludge, and this study tested whether ozonation could reduce the harm those microplastics cause during anaerobic digestion used to produce biogas. The findings showed that PET and polypropylene microplastics alter methane yields from sludge digestion in concentration-dependent ways, and that ozone pretreatment partially mitigates the inhibition caused by polypropylene — though the interactions are complex and require further optimization before widespread use.

2024 Ozone Science and Engineering 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Revealing the Mechanisms of Polyethylene Microplastics Affecting Anaerobic Digestion of Waste Activated Sludge

Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics affect the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge, a common wastewater treatment process. They found that higher concentrations of microplastics significantly reduced methane production by disrupting microbial communities and enzyme activities essential for digestion. The study reveals that microplastic contamination in wastewater systems can undermine the efficiency of sludge treatment and biogas generation.

2019 Environmental Science & Technology 351 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate and effect of Polyamide-6 microplastics in mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion

This study examined the fate and impact of polyamide-6 microplastics during mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion, finding that digestion temperature affects polymer degradation rates and that microplastics influence methane production and microbial communities.

2024 Environmental Pollution 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate and Impacts of Microplastics in Sludge Anaerobic Digestion: Effects on Methanogenic and Acidogenic Pathways

This review examined how microplastics in sewage sludge influence anaerobic digestion performance, covering effects on methane production, volatile fatty acid accumulation, and microbial community function. MPs inhibited methanogenesis at higher concentrations by altering microbial community structure and disrupting electron transfer pathways in the anaerobic digestion process.

2025 ChemistrySelect