Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Role of polystyrene microplastics in sunlight-mediated transformation of silver in aquatic environments: Mechanisms, kinetics and toxicity

Researchers investigated how UV-aged polystyrene microplastics mediate the transformation of silver in sunlit aquatic environments, finding that reactive oxygen species generated during MP photo-oxidation both reduced and re-oxidized silver, altering its speciation and toxicity to aquatic organisms.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Phototransformation and toxicity enhancement of AgCl NPs by polystyrene microplastics under irradiation

This study investigated how polystyrene microplastics affect the phototransformation of silver chloride nanoparticles under sunlight irradiation and whether the interaction enhances toxicity. Results showed that microplastics altered AgCl NP transformation and increased environmental risk under realistic aquatic surface conditions.

2024
Article Tier 2

Weathered Microplastics Induce Silver Nanoparticle Formation

Researchers found that weathered polystyrene microplastics can photochemically reduce dissolved silver ions to metallic silver nanoparticles in both freshwater and sand matrices under solar irradiation, revealing a previously unknown mechanism by which microplastics alter the chemical speciation of co-occurring metal contaminants.

2021 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Zinc oxide nanoparticles dissolution and toxicity enhancement by polystyrene microplastics under sunlight irradiation

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics dramatically increased the sunlight-induced dissolution of zinc oxide nanoparticles, enhancing the release of toxic zinc ions and reactive oxygen species in aquatic environments.

2022 Chemosphere 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic Roles of Microplastics in the Phototransformation of Silver Ions in Aquatic Environments

This study found that polystyrene microplastics mediate the transformation of silver ions into silver nanoparticles (Ag0, Ag2O, Ag2S) under natural and UV light irradiation, acting as reactive surfaces that alter silver speciation and potentially increase its bioavailability in aquatic systems.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic Rolesof Microplastics in the Phototransformationof Silver Ions in Aquatic Environments

Researchers investigated the mechanistic role of polystyrene microplastics in the phototransformation of silver ions (Ag+) in aquatic environments, finding that Ag-based nanoparticles ranging from 21.0-177.0 nm formed from Ag+ in the presence of PS microplastics after both natural light and UV irradiation. Using single-particle ICP-MS (sp-ICP-MS), they revealed that microplastics act as a photoreductive substrate that accelerates silver ion conversion to nanoparticles, potentially altering silver toxicity and bioavailability in aquatic systems.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Insights into the interaction of microplastic with silver nanoparticles in natural surface water

Researchers co-exposed three common microplastics — polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene — with silver nanoparticles in natural freshwater and brackish water, finding that their interaction altered the environmental behavior and fate of both contaminants. The results suggest that combined pollution from microplastics and nanomaterials produces effects distinct from either pollutant alone.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics enhance oxidative dissolution but suppress the aquatic acute toxicity of a commercial cadmium yellow pigment under simulated irradiation

Researchers studied how polystyrene microplastics affect the stability and toxicity of cadmium yellow pigment in water exposed to simulated sunlight. They found that the microplastics actually increased the dissolution of the pigment by generating reactive chemical species, but paradoxically reduced its acute toxicity to aquatic organisms. The study reveals that microplastics can alter the environmental behavior of co-existing pollutants in unexpected ways.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoplastics modulate the transformation of silver ions in the dark: Key role of environmentally persistent free radicals

Researchers discovered that polystyrene nanoplastics generate chemically reactive "free radicals" on their surfaces even in darkness, which then interact with silver ions commonly found in water to form silver nanoparticles. This transformation actually reduced silver's toxicity to zebrafish larvae, demonstrating that nanoplastics can chemically alter other pollutants in ways that change their environmental risk — even without sunlight.

2026 Water Research X
Article Tier 2

Effects of photochlorination on the physicochemical transformation of polystyrene nanoplastics: Mechanism and environmental fate

Researchers studied how sunlight combined with chlorine in water treatment changes the properties of polystyrene nanoplastics. They found that solar irradiation significantly accelerated the chemical breakdown of the nanoplastics, including surface oxidation and the release of organic compounds. The study reveals that nanoplastics leaving wastewater treatment plants undergo rapid transformation in the environment, which could alter both their fate and toxicity.

2023 Water Research 22 citations
Article Tier 2

A preliminary study of the interactions between microplastics and citrate-coated silver nanoparticles in aquatic environments

Researchers investigated interactions between citrate-coated silver nanoparticles and three types of microplastics, finding that polystyrene efficiently removed silver nanoparticles from solution via π-π interactions, while polyethylene and polypropylene showed no significant interaction. The study provides first evidence that plastic type governs the co-transport of nanoparticles with microplastics in aquatic environments.

2019 Journal of Hazardous Materials 119 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-occurrence of polypropylene microplastics and silver sulfide nanoparticles with organic emerging contaminants in surface water: comprehensive assessment of photolysis considering climate change impacts

Researchers assessed how polypropylene microplastics and silver sulfide nanoparticles affect the photodegradation of organic contaminants in surface water under changing climate conditions. They found that the presence of these co-contaminants altered the photolysis rates of emerging pollutants, with effects varying depending on the specific chemical and environmental conditions. The study highlights the need to account for microplastic and nanoparticle interactions when modeling pollutant fate in natural waters.

2025 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of photoaged polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics on the extracellular aggregation and intracellular accumulation of ZnO nanoparticles to algae

When microplastics weather in the environment under UV sunlight, they become more chemically reactive and change how they interact with other pollutants. This study found that photoaged polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics had a stronger ability to bind zinc oxide nanoparticles than fresh plastic, and that this enhanced binding altered how the zinc nanoparticles affected green algae — generally reducing zinc uptake into algal cells but increasing overall ecological risk. The findings highlight that the environmental "aging" of microplastics is not merely cosmetic — it fundamentally changes their behavior as carriers of other toxic substances in aquatic ecosystems.

2025 Journal of Environmental Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanism of low concentrations of polystyrene microplastics influence the cytotoxicity of Ag ions to Escherichia coli

Low concentrations of polystyrene microplastics had minimal direct toxicity to E. coli but dynamically modulated the toxicity of silver ions, initially protecting bacteria by shielding cell membranes and later intensifying toxicity by promoting reactive oxygen species generation depending on the plastic's surface charge. The study highlights the complexity of predicting combined microplastic and metal toxicity in aquatic ecosystems.

2020 Chemosphere 47 citations
Article Tier 2

Swelling-Induced Fragmentation and Polymer Leakage of Nanoplastics in Seawater

Researchers tracked polystyrene nanoplastics in seawater over 29 days under simulated sunlight and found that light accelerates aggregation, while also inducing swelling and fragmentation of particles and leaching of polymer components, complicating predictions of nanoplastic fate and risk in marine environments.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-exposure effects of polystyrene nanoplastics and silver nanoparticles in constructed wetlands: Microbial and macrophyte responses

Researchers co-exposed constructed wetlands to polystyrene nanoplastics and silver nanoparticles and found synergistic disruption of the electron transport chain, impaired ATP production, and altered nitrogen transformation, with combined exposure more toxic than either contaminant alone.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Synergistic Transformationof Microplastics and Benzo(a)pyreneunder Simulated Sunlight Irradiation: The Role of Chromophores andReactive Oxygen Species

Researchers studied the synergistic transformation of polystyrene microplastics pre-adsorbed with benzo[a]pyrene under simulated sunlight, finding that benzo[a]pyrene accelerated plastic photoaging while the plastic's surface altered pollutant photodegradation chemistry through chromophore and reactive oxygen species interactions.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics accelerated photodegradation of co-existed polypropylene via photosensitization of polymer itself and released organic compounds

Researchers discovered that polystyrene microplastics can accelerate the breakdown of polypropylene microplastics when both are present together in water exposed to sunlight. The polystyrene acts as a photosensitizer, generating reactive oxygen species that speed up the oxidation and fragmentation of polypropylene. The finding reveals that different types of microplastics can interact with each other in unexpected ways, potentially accelerating the generation of even smaller plastic particles in the environment.

2022 Water Research 105 citations
Article Tier 2

Toward Understanding the Environmental Risks of Combined Microplastics/Nanomaterials Exposures: Unveiling ZnO Transformations after Adsorption onto Polystyrene Microplastics in Environmental Solutions

Researchers investigated how zinc oxide nanomaterials adsorb onto polystyrene microplastics in aquatic environments, finding significant chemical transformations of ZnO into zinc-sulfide and zinc-phosphate species, revealing that microplastics can alter the environmental fate of co-occurring nanomaterials.

2023 Global Challenges 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced biotoxicity by co-exposure of aged polystyrene and ciprofloxacin: the adsorption and its influence factors

This study found that polystyrene microplastics aged by sunlight absorbed significantly more of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin than fresh microplastics, and the combination was more toxic to organisms than either pollutant alone. The aging process created more surface area and chemical binding sites on the plastic particles. This is important because it means weathered microplastics in the real world can concentrate antibiotics and deliver higher toxic doses to organisms, potentially contributing to both direct toxicity and antibiotic resistance.

2024 Environmental Geochemistry and Health 10 citations