Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

A review of microplastics aggregation in aquatic environment: Influence factors, analytical methods, and environmental implications

This review examines how microplastics clump together in aquatic environments, a behavior called aggregation that affects where they end up and how available they are to organisms. Researchers evaluated the factors that influence aggregation, including water chemistry, particle size, and the presence of natural organic matter. The study identifies important gaps in field research and calls for standardized methods to better understand how aggregation shapes the environmental fate of microplastics.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 353 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent Advances in the Aggregation Behavior of Nanoplastics in Aquatic Systems

This review examines recent advances in understanding nanoplastic aggregation behavior in aquatic systems, focusing on how polymer surface modification and the use of novel surfactants can be designed to promote aggregation of nanoplastics from the environment. The review distinguishes this approach from conventional surfactant use aimed at dispersing insoluble compounds.

2023 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Aquatic Environments: Aggregation, Deposition, and Enhanced Contaminant Transport

This review examined the aggregation, deposition, and transport of microplastics and nanoplastics in aquatic environments, synthesizing how particle properties and water chemistry govern their fate and mobility in rivers, lakes, and oceans.

2017 Environmental Science & Technology 2491 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics in water

This paper examines the presence and behavior of nanoplastics, extremely small plastic particles, in water environments. Understanding how these particles move through and persist in water is important for assessing potential risks to aquatic ecosystems and human health.

2024 10 citations
Article Tier 2

The environmental fate of nanoplastics: What we know and what we need to know about aggregation

Researchers systematically analyzed experimental studies on nanoplastic aggregation behavior, evaluating the environmental relevance of 377 solution chemistries and 163 particle models. The study found that commonly used polymer latex spheres do not accurately represent real-world nanoplastics, and suggests that incidentally produced nanoplastics may be more sensitive to heteroaggregation than previously expected.

2023 NanoImpact 129 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation Behavior of Particulate Plastics and Its Implications

This chapter reviews how microplastics aggregate with each other and with natural particles like sediment and algae in water, affecting their transport, fate, and biological availability. Heteroaggregation with natural colloids is more common than microplastic-to-microplastic clumping, which has important implications for how microplastics move through aquatic environments.

2020
Article Tier 2

Environmental factors-mediated behavior of microplastics and nanoplastics in water: A review

This review examines how environmental conditions such as pH, salt levels, and organic matter influence how microplastics and nanoplastics behave in water. The study found that these factors significantly affect whether tiny plastic particles clump together or stay dispersed, which in turn determines how far they travel and how available they are for organisms to ingest.

2021 Chemosphere 151 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of the Surface Hydrophobicity–Morphology–Functionality of Nanoplastics on Their Homoaggregation in Seawater

Researchers found that nanoplastic surface hydrophobicity, morphology, and functional chemistry strongly govern homoaggregation behavior in aquatic environments, with more hydrophobic and functionalized particles forming larger, faster-settling aggregates that alter their environmental fate and bioavailability.

2022 ACS ES&T Water 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Prediction of nanoplastics aggregation in wastewaters

Researchers modeled how nanoplastic particles from degraded plastic waste aggregate in wastewater under different conditions. Understanding aggregation behavior is key to predicting how nanoplastics move through water treatment systems and ultimately whether they reach drinking water sources.

2023 Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Fate, Behavior, and Risk Management Approaches of Nanoplastics in the Environment

Researchers reviewed the environmental fate, behavior, and risk management of nanoplastics, which are plastic particles smaller than one micrometer. The study suggests that nanoplastics may pose greater environmental and health risks than larger microplastics due to their nanoscale properties, though significant knowledge gaps remain about their transport, transformation, and long-term ecological effects.

2024 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics in aquatic environments: Origin, separation and characterization: Review

This review covers the origins, separation methods, and characterization of nanoplastics in aquatic environments. Nanoplastics (1–100 nm) are particularly concerning because their tiny size gives them a large surface area for adsorbing pollutants and allows them to penetrate biological barriers more easily than larger microplastics.

2023 Tehnika
Article Tier 2

Interaction, Adhesion and Aggregation of Microplastic/Nanoplastic Particles: Effects of Plastic Polymer Type

This review examines how polymer type, particle size, shape, pH, ionic strength, and salt composition influence the interaction, adhesion, and aggregation behavior of microplastics and nanoplastics in aquatic and soil environments. The paper synthesizes findings on homoaggregation and heteroaggregation with natural and engineered nanoparticles, highlighting how aggregation affects particle transport and environmental fate.

2023 Asian Journal of Water Environment and Pollution 3 citations
Article Tier 2

A versatile test system to determine nanomaterial heteroagglomeration attachment efficiency

Researchers developed a standardized test system to measure how readily nanoparticles — including nanoplastics — clump together with other environmental particles, which determines how fast they settle out of water. This attachment efficiency data is critical for modeling nanoplastic fate and risk in aquatic environments.

2023 Environmental Science Nano 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics display strong stability in aqueous environments: Insights from aggregation behaviour and theoretical calculations

Nanoplastics released into aquatic environments were found to be highly stable and resist aggregation and settling under many conditions, meaning they can persist and disperse widely rather than quickly sinking. This environmental stability makes nanoplastics particularly concerning as long-lived and mobile contaminants in water systems.

2019 Environmental Pollution 187 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics: From Separations to Analysis—Challenges and Limitations

This review examines the challenges of analyzing nanoplastics in environmental samples, from sample preparation to identification. Researchers found that techniques commonly used for larger microplastics are often ineffective for nanoplastics, and that isolating these tiny particles from complex environmental samples remains a major technical hurdle. The study summarizes the advantages and limitations of current microscopic, spectroscopic, and thermal analysis methods and calls for standardized approaches.

2025 Separations 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Nano-plastics and their analytical characterisation and fate in the marine environment: From source to sea

Researchers reviewed the sources, environmental fate, organism interactions, and analytical detection methods for nano-sized plastic polymers in the marine environment, concluding that nanoplastics pose the greatest ecological risk among plastic size fractions and that standardized analytical protocols for nanoplastic characterization are urgently needed.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 142 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro/nanoplastics in aquatic ecosystems: Analytical challenges, ecological impacts, and mitigation strategies

This review provides a comprehensive assessment of micro- and nanoplastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems, covering detection methods, toxic effects across the food chain, and emerging cleanup strategies. Researchers highlight the limitations of current analytical techniques and the challenges of accurately measuring these tiny particles in water and living organisms. The study identifies key research priorities needed to better understand and mitigate the growing threat of plastic particle pollution in waterways.

2025 Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

New Analytical Approaches for Effective Quantification and Identification of Nanoplastics in Environmental Samples

This review assessed new analytical approaches for quantifying and identifying nanoplastics in environmental samples, highlighting fundamental challenges in detection due to their small size and the need for improved methods to understand nanoplastic contamination levels.

2021 Processes 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Current Methods and Prospects for Analysis and Characterization of Nanomaterials in the Environment

This review summarizes current methods for analyzing and characterizing nanomaterials, including nanoplastics, in environmental samples such as water, soil, and air. Researchers evaluated techniques for sample preparation, separation, and detection, noting that low concentrations and structural complexity in natural settings remain major analytical challenges. The study identifies emerging approaches that may improve our ability to assess real-world nanoplastic exposure scenarios for environmental risk assessment.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology 68 citations
Article Tier 2

A review on occurrence, characteristics, toxicology and treatment of nanoplastic waste in the environment

This review summarizes the current understanding of nanoplastic pollution, including sources, occurrence in water, soil, and air, and potential toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The study highlights major gaps in analytical methods for detecting nanoplastics and calls for more research on their environmental fate and health effects.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 56 citations