Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Fish Gill-InspiredBidirectional Porous PolysaccharideAerogels for Micro/Nanoplastics Removal

Inspired by fish gill structure, researchers created a bidirectional porous aerogel from chitosan, cellulose nanofibers, and polydopamine that achieved adsorption capacities exceeding 300 mg/g for micro- and nanoplastics, offering a sustainable bio-based removal material.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Biobased Composite Aerogels for Efficient Flow-Through Capture of Nanoplastics via Multimodal Interfacial Interactions

Scientists created a new sponge-like filter made from natural materials that can remove nearly 100% of tiny plastic particles from water. These nanoplastics are so small they're invisible to the naked eye but pose potential health risks when they get into drinking water. The filter works efficiently with very little energy, offering a promising way to clean up water contaminated with plastic pollution.

2026 ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Article Tier 2

Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification

Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that self-assemble into thermogels in water and reversibly capture nanoplastics, demonstrating a programmable, jellyfish-inspired filtration approach for removing nanoscale plastic particles from aquatic environments.

2025
Article Tier 2

Coral-inspired environmental durability aerogels for micron-size plastic particles removal in the aquatic environment

Researchers developed a coral-inspired polydopamine-enhanced magnetic cellulose aerogel for removing micron-sized microplastic particles from water, mimicking corals' active adsorption and passive adhesion mechanisms to achieve effective microplastic capture.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 127 citations
Article Tier 2

Aerogels Fabricated from Wood-Derived Functional Cellulose Nanofibrils for Highly Efficient Separation of Microplastics

Researchers developed aerogel filters from chemically modified wood-derived cellulose nanofibrils that achieved up to 100% efficiency in removing polystyrene microplastics from water. The aerogels captured microplastics through a combination of physical entrapment, electrostatic interaction, and hydrogen bonding, and maintained their effectiveness over eight filtration cycles. The study demonstrates a promising green technology using sustainable materials for addressing microplastic pollution in aquatic environments.

2023 ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 35 citations
Article Tier 2

A Chitosan Nanofiber Sponge for Oyster-Inspired Filtration of Microplastics

An ultralight chitosan nanofiber sponge was developed as a filtration material for removing microplastics from water, inspired by oyster filtration biology, and demonstrated high removal efficiency for polystyrene microplastics in lab tests while being biodegradable and made from renewable chitosan feedstock.

2021 ACS Applied Polymer Materials 66 citations
Article Tier 2

Efficient microplastics adsorption in aqueous environments via bidirectional ordered graphene oxide/nanocellulose aerogels

Researchers developed a new material made from graphene oxide and nanocellulose that can effectively remove microplastics from water. The aerogel absorbed up to 241 milligrams of microplastics per gram of material and maintained over 80% efficiency after 20 reuse cycles. This kind of reusable filter technology could help reduce the amount of microplastics reaching drinking water sources and the food chain.

2024 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Synergistic Microplastics Capture and Bacterial Inhibition by a Cationic COF‐Reinforced Chitosan/Tannic Acid Aerogel

Researchers developed a cationic covalent organic framework aerogel made from chitosan and tannic acid that effectively captures microplastics from water while also inhibiting bacteria. The study suggests this low-cost, monolithic aerogel overcomes the limitations of powdered materials and offers a practical, convenient approach for microplastic removal from contaminated water.

2026 Advanced Functional Materials
Article Tier 2

Degradable quaternary ammonium salt-modified rice straw cellulose/chitosan composite aerogel for high-efficiency microplastic adsorption

Researchers created a quaternary ammonium salt-modified cellulose/chitosan composite aerogel from discarded rice straw and tested it for microplastic adsorption, achieving high removal efficiency and capacity while using a waste-based feedstock to address an emerging pollution problem.

2025 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Eco-friendly lily bulb-derived polysaccharide aerogel for efficient microplastics and nanoplastics removal

Scientists created an eco-friendly filter material from lily bulb polysaccharides that can remove over 93% of microplastics and 96% of nanoplastics from water. The filter maintained its effectiveness for three months of continuous use, working through hydrogen bonding and its porous structure to capture plastic particles. This plant-based approach offers a sustainable and biodegradable alternative to synthetic filter materials for cleaning microplastics from water.

2025 Carbohydrate Polymers 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Nature-derived hydrogel for microplastic removal

Scientists developed a nature-based hydrogel made from chitin and lignin that can remove nanoplastics from wastewater with very high efficiency, absorbing up to 1,791 milligrams of plastic per gram of material. This sustainable, reusable filter could help reduce the amount of tiny plastic particles that reach drinking water and ultimately the human body.

2025 Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials 13 citations
Article Tier 2

A self-cleaning, bio-inspired high retention filter for a major entry path of microplastics

Researchers developed a bio-inspired self-cleaning filter for washing machine microplastic fibre capture, modeled on the gill arch system of ram-feeding fish, achieving high retention efficiency while resisting clogging — a key limitation of existing domestic filtration solutions.

2025
Article Tier 2

Biomimetic on-chip filtration enabled by direct micro-3D printing on membrane

Researchers used micro-scale 3D printing to build a "fish gill"-inspired filtration chip that deflects particles and oil droplets rather than trapping them, achieving two to three times longer filter lifespan than conventional membranes and showing promise for removing plastic microparticles from wastewater.

2022 Scientific Reports 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification

Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that form thermally responsive hydrogels capable of capturing nanoplastics from water, achieving removal efficiencies of 68–100% for polystyrene nanoparticles (20–1,000 nm), with a reversible gel-syneresis cycle enabling both passive filtration and particle recovery for trace analysis.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification

Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that form thermally responsive hydrogels capable of capturing nanoplastics from water, achieving removal efficiencies of 68–100% for polystyrene nanoparticles (20–1,000 nm), with a reversible gel-syneresis cycle enabling both passive filtration and particle recovery for trace analysis.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification

Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that self-assemble into micelles and undergo reversible temperature-triggered sol-gel-syneresis transitions to capture nanoplastics from water, achieving removal efficiencies of 68-100% for polystyrene nanoplastics (20-1000 nm) and recovery efficiencies up to 61% for downstream analysis.

2025
Article Tier 2

Removal of nanoplastics from aquatic environments using graphene oxide/chitosan sponges

Researchers developed a three-dimensional porous graphene oxide/chitosan sponge with an average pore size of 21.67 µm and evaluated its effectiveness in removing polystyrene nanoplastics (31.1 nm diameter) from aqueous solutions.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management
Article Tier 2

Emerging Porous Materials for Adsorptive Removal of Microplastics and Nanoplastics from Aquatic Environments: A Review

This review summarizes recent advances in using porous materials, including sponges, aerogels, hydrogels, metal-organic frameworks, and carbon-based adsorbents, to remove microplastics and nanoplastics from water. Researchers found that adsorption using these materials is a promising, cost-effective approach that outperforms conventional water treatment methods for plastic particle removal. The study identifies key challenges and future research directions for developing practical adsorbents for real-world plastic pollution mitigation.

2025 ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 1 citations
Article Tier 2

A Novel Application of Filtration for the Collection of Microplastics in Waterways

Researchers developed a novel filtration system for collecting microplastics from waterways, demonstrating its effectiveness as a scalable and practical tool for environmental monitoring and plastic pollution assessment.

2024 Research Square (Research Square)
Article Tier 2

Towards a More Sustainable Water Treatment: Design of a Hydrodynamic Test Rig and Testing of a Novel Microplastic Filter Using Biomimetics

Researchers designed a hydrodynamic test rig and a novel biomimetic microplastic filter inspired by aquatic filter-feeding organisms, aiming to improve solid-liquid separation in water treatment. The study demonstrates how biological filtration strategies can inform more sustainable industrial microplastic removal approaches.

2024 Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Dialdehyde modified and cationic aerogel for efficient microplastics adsorption from environmental waters

Scientists developed a plant-based aerogel material that can efficiently absorb microplastics from water, achieving removal rates above 90% across a wide range of water conditions. The material maintained its effectiveness after eight reuse cycles, making it a practical and eco-friendly solution. This type of technology could help reduce microplastic levels in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs that supply drinking water.

2023 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Revivable self-assembled supramolecular biomass fibrous framework for efficient microplastic removal

Scientists developed a sustainable material made from chitin and cellulose, two natural compounds, that can efficiently remove multiple types of microplastics from water. The material can be regenerated and reused multiple times without losing effectiveness, making it a practical tool for water cleanup. This type of affordable, eco-friendly filtration technology could help reduce human exposure to microplastics in drinking water.

2024 Science Advances 65 citations
Article Tier 2

The use of chitosan for water purification from microplastics

Researchers investigated chitosan as a sorbent for removing microplastics from water, analyzing its physicochemical properties and proposing an optimized purification method based on chitosan's sorption characteristics.

2025 Open MIND
Article Tier 2

Multifunctional sodium alginate/chitosan-modified graphene oxide reinforced membrane for simultaneous removal of nanoplastics, emulsified oil, and dyes in water

Researchers developed a bioinspired three-layer membrane using sodium alginate, graphene oxide, and chitosan that removed over 99% of nanoplastics, emulsified oil, and dyes from water simultaneously, with excellent stability in extreme pH conditions and good recyclability.

2023 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 45 citations