Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Co-transport of polystyrene nanoplastics and soil colloids in saturated porous media: influence of pH and ionic strength

Researchers examined the co-transport of polystyrene nanoplastics and soil colloids in saturated porous media, finding that solution pH and ionic strength significantly influenced their combined transport behavior through mechanisms explained by DLVO theory and adsorption tests.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Article Tier 2

Transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in natural soils: Effect of soil properties, ionic strength and cation type

Researchers used column experiments across three soil types to show that polystyrene nanoplastic transport is governed by soil iron and aluminum oxide content and pH — with high-pH, low-oxide soils allowing up to 97% nanoplastic passage — and that calcium ions and higher ionic strength significantly increase retention, revealing that soil chemistry strongly controls nanoplastic mobility toward groundwater.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 290 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of natural organic matters on fate of polystyrene nanoplastics in porous media

Researchers investigated how natural organic matter (NOM) affects the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics through porous media, finding that NOM facilitates nanoplastic movement by increasing energy barriers, while metal ions reduce transport by promoting nanoplastic aggregation.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Vertical transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in natural soils under unsaturated conditions: influence of particle size and texture

Laboratory experiments showed that polystyrene nanoplastics can travel downward through unsaturated soils, but larger particles and clay-rich soils retain them more effectively than smaller particles in sandy soils. Understanding how nanoplastics move through soil is important for predicting whether they will reach groundwater and contaminate drinking water sources.

2026 Environmental Science Nano
Article Tier 2

Effect of low-molecular-weight organic acids on the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in saturated porous media

Researchers studied how low-molecular-weight organic acids (common in soil and groundwater) affect the movement of polystyrene nanoplastics through saturated porous media, finding that low concentrations promote transport while high concentrations increase particle deposition, with the effect scaling with the number of functional groups on the organic acid.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of input concentration, media particle size, and flow rate on fate of polystyrene nanoplastics in saturated porous media

Researchers systematically tested how input concentration, sand grain size, and flow rate control nanoplastic transport through saturated porous media, finding that nanoplastics are highly mobile under most conditions and — crucially — fragment into smaller sub-100 nm particles during long-term release, potentially increasing their environmental persistence and bioavailability.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Vertical transport and retention behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics in simulated hyporheic zone

Researchers investigated polystyrene nanoplastic transport through quartz sand columns under varying flow rates, orientations, water saturation, salinity, and temperature, finding that high salinity was the most powerful driver of retention. Increasing salinity from 0 to 35 PSU caused the penetration rate of nanoplastics to drop from 100% to zero by compressing the electrical double layer and facilitating aggregation.

2022 Water Research 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Quantification of two-site kinetic transport parameters of polystyrene nanoplastics in porous media

This laboratory study tracked how polystyrene nanoplastics move through different soil types by measuring their transport through columns packed with quartz sand and clay minerals. Higher pH conditions reduced the ability of clay minerals to trap nanoplastics, meaning they traveled farther and faster through soil toward groundwater. Understanding these transport dynamics is key to predicting how nanoplastic contamination spreads through soils and ultimately reaches drinking water sources.

2023 Chemosphere 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of functional group modified polystyrene nanoplastics in binary metal oxide saturated porous media

Researchers found that the surface functional groups of polystyrene nanoplastics significantly influenced their transport behavior through binary metal oxide porous media, with solution chemistry and the specific combination of metal oxides playing key roles in determining nanoplastic mobility in soil environments.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Low-Molecular-Weight Organic Acids on the Transport of Polystyrene Nanoplastics in Saturated Goethite-Coated Sand Columns

This study examined how low-molecular-weight organic acids — common root exudates in soil — affect the transport of polystyrene nanoplastics through porous media. Organic acids altered nanoplastic surface charge and aggregation state, significantly changing how far particles could migrate through soil.

2024 Water 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence mechanism of attapulgite on the migration of carboxylated polystyrene nanoplastics and the role of environmental factors

Researchers found that attapulgite clay mineral significantly influenced the migration of carboxylated polystyrene nanoplastics in saturated porous media, with humic acid and oxalic acid playing differential roles in either facilitating or retarding nanoplastic transport through soil-groundwater systems.

2025 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology
Article Tier 2

Transport of polystyrene nanoplastics in porous media: Combined effects of two co-existing substances

Researchers studied how cationic and anionic surfactants interact with natural organic matter (humic acid and sodium alginate) to control polystyrene nanoplastic transport through porous media, finding that the dominant mobility mechanism switched from electrostatic (with cationic surfactants) to hydrophobic (with anionic surfactants), with organic matter amplifying each surfactant's effect.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Influences of input concentration, media particle size, metal cation valence, and ionic concentration on the transport, long-term release, and particle breakage of polyvinyl chloride nanoplastics in saturated porous media

Researchers investigated the transport and long-term release of polyvinyl chloride nanoplastics through saturated porous media, finding that particle concentration, sediment grain size, ionic strength, and cation valence all significantly affected nanoplastic mobility and retention relevant to groundwater contamination.

2023 Chemosphere 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of physicochemical factors on transport and retention of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) in homogeneous and heterogeneous saturated porous media

Researchers studied how polystyrene microplastics move through different types of underground soil and sand formations. They found that smaller sand grains, higher salt concentrations, and the presence of calcium ions all increased microplastic retention, while mixed soil layers created preferential flow paths that allowed some particles to break through faster. The findings help explain how microplastics could potentially contaminate groundwater aquifers.

2025 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of clay minerals on the transport of polystyrene nanoplastic in groundwater

Researchers investigated how clay minerals affect nanoplastic transport in groundwater, finding that montmorillonite, kaolinite, and illite each uniquely influenced polystyrene nanoparticle mobility, with montmorillonite showing the strongest retention capacity due to its high surface charge.

2022 Water Research 82 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate and polymethyl methacrylate microplastics in porous media under gradient ionic strength

Researchers used column experiments to study how four types of microplastics — polypropylene, PVC, PET, and PMMA — move through soil-like porous media under different salt concentrations. They found that increasing salinity reduces microplastic mobility by causing particles to stick to sand surfaces, which has implications for predicting how far microplastics can travel through soils to reach groundwater.

2023 Environmental Pollutants and Bioavailability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of physicochemical factors on the transport of aged polystyrene nanoparticles in saturated porous media

Researchers studied how UV aging alters the subsurface transport of polystyrene nanoparticles through sand columns, finding that aging generally enhanced particle mobility by introducing oxygen-containing surface groups, except in the presence of aluminum ions which caused aggregation and reduced transport distance.

2021 Chemosphere 52 citations
Article Tier 2

Sensitivity of the Transport of Plastic Nanoparticles to Typical Phosphates Associated with Ionic Strength and Solution pH

This study investigated how phosphate ions in soil pore water influence the transport of plastic nanoparticles through porous media under varying pH and ionic strength conditions. Phosphate affected nanoparticle surface charge and aggregation behavior, altering how far particles traveled. The findings are relevant to understanding how plastic nanoparticles move through soils and groundwater systems.

2022 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of clay minerals on the transport of nanoplastics through water-saturated porous media

Column experiments with clay-containing saturated porous media showed that clay minerals reduced nanoplastic transport by enhancing particle retention through bridging flocculation and charge neutralization, with kaolinite having greater retention effects than montmorillonite, informing predictions of nanoplastic mobility in clay-rich soils.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 68 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of Microplastic Particles in Saturated Porous Media

Researchers investigated the retention and transport of polystyrene latex colloids as model microplastics in glass bead-packed columns under varying ionic strengths and injected volumes, finding that retention profiles shifted from monotonic to non-monotonic distributions as conditions changed. The study identifies limitations in conventional convection-diffusion models for predicting non-monotonic retention and provides data critical for improving microplastic fate models in porous media like soil.

2019 Water 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanism of coupled phosphate‑calcium modulation of nanoplastic transport in porous media: Role of solution chemistry and surface interactions

Scientists used laboratory experiments and molecular simulations to study how phosphate and calcium ions in soil water affect whether polystyrene nanoplastics move freely through the ground or get trapped in soil particles. They found that pH was a key factor: at lower pH levels, phosphate helped nanoplastics travel farther while calcium restricted movement, with both effects linked to how these ions change the surface charge of both the particles and the soil. Understanding nanoplastic mobility in soil is essential for predicting contamination of groundwater and crops.

2025 Chemical Engineering Journal 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation and Deposition Kinetics of Polystyrene Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Aquatic Environment

Researchers measured aggregation and deposition kinetics of 50 nm and 500 nm polystyrene particles under varying ionic strength and pH conditions, finding that both particle sizes aggregated rapidly at elevated salt concentrations and that the smaller nanoplastics were more mobile in column experiments.

2021 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-impacts of cation type and humic acid on migration of polystyrene microplastics in saturated porous media

Researchers investigated how different cation types and humic acid concentrations affect the movement of polystyrene microplastics through saturated soil. The study found that aging accelerated microplastic migration under all conditions, while calcium ions and humic acid had complex interactive effects on microplastic transport and retention in porous media.

2024 Journal of Environmental Management 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of natural organic matter and inorganic ions on the stabilization of polystyrene micro-particles

Researchers investigated how natural organic matter (NOM) and inorganic ions affect the stabilization and aggregation behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics in water, finding that NOM enhanced colloidal stability while high ionic strength promoted aggregation. The results indicate that water chemistry plays a dominant role in determining nanoplastic mobility and persistence in natural freshwater environments.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 5 citations