Papers

61,006 results
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Article Tier 2

Influence of Soil Colloids on Ni Adsorption and Transport in the Saturated Porous Media: Effects of pH, Ionic Strength, and Humic Acid

Soil colloids — tiny particles naturally suspended in soil water — were found to significantly influence the transport of nickel through saturated sandy media. The presence of colloids increased nickel mobility, and the effect varied with pH, ionic strength, and humic acid content. Understanding colloid-facilitated metal transport is important for assessing how nickel and other heavy metals spread from contaminated sites into groundwater.

2022 Applied Sciences 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport characteristics of DNA-tagged silica colloids as a colloidal tracer in saturated sand columns; role of solution chemistry, flow velocity, and sand grain size

Researchers evaluated DNA-tagged silica colloids as environmental tracers in saturated sand columns and found their transport behavior closely matched conventional colloid transport theory, validating their use for tracking subsurface water flow and contaminant pathways.

2022 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of background ions and physicochemical factors on the cotransport of microplastics with Cu2+ in saturated porous media

Researchers used column experiments to study how polystyrene microplastics transport copper ions through saturated porous media under different ionic conditions. They found that microplastics effectively act as carriers for copper, with UV-aged and oxygen-aged particles showing even stronger transport capacity than pristine ones. The study demonstrates that microplastics in groundwater systems can facilitate the spread of heavy metal contamination by carrying pollutants through soil.

2024 Scientific Reports 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Fate and cotransport of Pb(II) and Cd(II) heavy ions with bentonite colloidal flow in saturated porous media: The role of filter cake, counter ions, colloid concentration, and fluid velocity

Researchers studied how colloidal bentonite clay particles transport lead and cadmium heavy ions through porous sand, simulating conditions near oil and gas drilling waste sites. They found that the formation of an external filter cake significantly delayed heavy ion breakthrough and reduced outlet concentrations of cadmium and lead by 86% and 93% respectively. The study suggests that colloid-mediated transport is a key mechanism for heavy metal migration in contaminated groundwater environments.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 15 citations
Article Tier 2

[Transport and Model Calculation of Microplastics Under the Influence of Ionic Type, Strength, and Iron Oxide].

Laboratory column experiments showed that calcium ions strongly inhibit the transport of polystyrene microplastics through quartz sand via bridging and charge neutralization effects, while iron oxide coatings on sand grains further reduce microplastic mobility through surface adsorption. Understanding these transport dynamics is important for predicting how microplastics move through soil and groundwater systems and assessing contamination risks to drinking water sources.

2023 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Effects of soil grain size and solution chemistry on the transport of biochar nanoparticles

Researchers investigated how soil grain size and solution chemistry affect the transport of biochar nanoparticles through soil, finding that both factors significantly influence mobility and that accurate transport predictions are essential for safely scaling up biochar soil applications.

2023 Frontiers in Environmental Science 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of nanoplastic debris on the stability and transport of metal oxide nanoparticles: role of varying soil solution chemistry

Researchers investigated how nanoplastic debris affects the stability and transport of copper oxide nanoparticles in soil solutions extracted from three soil types, finding that nanoplastic presence significantly reduced nanoparticle aggregation and sedimentation rates and dramatically increased nanoparticle mobility through soil columns, raising concerns about combined contamination enhancing metal nanoparticle spread in terrestrial environments.

2022 Chemosphere 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental Confirmation of the Interception History Paradigm for Colloid (Micro and Nanoparticle) Transport in Porous Media

Laboratory experiments confirmed the interception history paradigm for colloid filtration under chemically unfavorable conditions, demonstrating that microplastics and other colloidal particles follow predictable deposition patterns in porous media—providing mechanistic data relevant to modeling MP transport through soils and aquifers.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

SiO2 and microparticle transport in a saturated porous medium: effects of particle size and flow rate

Column experiments tracking the movement of polystyrene microplastic particles and silica particles through saturated gravel showed that larger particles are retained more strongly, but higher water flow rates push both types deeper into the porous medium. At the same flow rate, 10-micrometer polystyrene particles were retained 46% more effectively than 2-micrometer particles, illustrating how particle size and water velocity interact to control microplastic transport through subsurface environments. Understanding these dynamics is important for predicting how microplastics reach groundwater and spread through aquifer systems.

2024 Applied Water Science 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of particle density on the mobility of microplastics in sediments

This study investigates how the density of microplastic particles affects their mobility through soil and potential to reach groundwater, using column experiments with polyethylene particles of different densities. Particle density was found to influence transport behavior, with implications for understanding how microplastics migrate through terrestrial environments.

BOK:ePub (Universitätsbibliothek der Universität f Bodenkultur Wien)
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

Concentration‐ and Size‐Dependent Influences of Microplastics on Soil Hydraulic Properties and Water Flow

Researchers investigated how microplastic concentration and particle size affect soil hydraulic properties and water flow. They found that microplastic contamination reduced saturated conductivity by up to 50% and inhibited water infiltration, with higher concentrations and larger particle sizes leading to weaker soil water-holding capacity.

2025 European Journal of Soil Science 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of shape on the transport and retention of nanoplastics in saturated quartz sand

Researchers compared the transport of spherical versus toroid-shaped nanoplastics through quartz sand columns, finding that irregular toroid particles traveled significantly less far than spheres due to lower energy barriers and greater tendency to accumulate along pore walls — highlighting that particle shape must be considered when predicting nanoplastic fate in soil and groundwater.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of Preferential Microplastics Leaching Through Macropores on Vertical Soil Particle Transport

Using packed soil columns with artificial macropores of 2, 3, and 4 mm, researchers investigated how macropore size affects the leaching of microplastics with different shapes and polymer types under rainfall simulations. Macropore size significantly influenced microplastic transport, with larger macropores enabling faster and more extensive particle migration.

2025 European Journal of Soil Science 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Dispersion properties of nanoplastic spheres in granular media at low Reynolds numbers

Researchers measured how nanoplastic spheres of different sizes (100-1000 nm) move through porous granular media at low flow rates, finding that existing models significantly underestimate the dispersion of colloidal-sized nanoplastics. Size exclusion effects reduced the mobility of larger nanoplastics in fine-grained sediments, with implications for predicting nanoplastic transport in soils and groundwater.

2023 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of co-present mineral colloids on the transport of microplastics in porous media: The key role of hydrochemical and hydrodynamic conditions

Scientists studied how tiny plastic particles (microplastics) move through soil and sand when mixed with natural clay particles. They found that the combination of different clay types and water conditions can either help microplastics travel further underground or trap them in place. This research helps us better understand how microplastics might contaminate groundwater sources that provide our drinking water.

2026 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Article Tier 2

Impact of particle size and oxide phase on microplastic transport through iron oxide-coated sand

Researchers studied how different types of iron oxide coatings on sand affect the movement of polystyrene microplastics through soil. They found that magnetite-coated sand retained the most microplastics, while goethite-coated sand retained the least, with results matching theoretical predictions. The findings suggest that naturally iron-rich soils could serve as effective barriers to prevent microplastic transport through groundwater systems.

2024 Water Research 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Natural organic matter and ionic strength (CaCl2) affect transport, retention and remobilization of silica encapsulated DNA colloids (DNAcol) in saturated sand columns

This paper is not directly about microplastics — it studies how natural organic matter and calcium chloride ionic strength affect the transport and remobilization of DNA-tagged silica colloid surrogates in saturated sand columns, providing insights into colloidal particle behavior in porous media.

2023 Colloids and Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport and deposition of microplastic particles in saturated porous media: Co-effects of clay particles and natural organic matter

Researchers performed column experiments to study how clay particles and natural organic matter affect microplastic transport through saturated porous media, finding that both colloids reduced MP mobility through heteroaggregation and that their combined presence produced the greatest reduction in transport.

2021 Environmental Pollution 124 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of deposition, detachment and aggregation processes on nanoparticle transport in porous media using Monte Carlo simulations

Researchers developed a 3D computational model to study how engineered nanoparticles move through porous soil and sediment, accounting for deposition, detachment, and aggregation. Similar models can be applied to understand how nanoplastics and small microplastics move through groundwater systems.

2021 Environmental Science Nano 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Current understanding of subsurface transport of micro‐ and nanoplastics in soil

This review summarizes current knowledge about how micro- and nanoplastics are transported through soil subsurface environments. Researchers discuss the fundamental mechanisms governing plastic particle movement in soils, including size-dependent filtration, preferential flow through macropores, and interactions with soil colloids. The study highlights significant gaps in understanding how plastics migrate through different soil types and may eventually reach groundwater.

2021 Vadose Zone Journal 92 citations
Article Tier 2

An insight into laboratory column experiments for microplastic transport in soil

This review synthesizes findings from laboratory column experiments on microplastic transport through soil, examining how particle size, shape, surface chemistry, and soil properties influence how far plastics migrate in the subsurface.

2024 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science
Article Tier 2

Experimental and simulated microplastics transport in saturated natural sediments: Impact of grain size and particle size

Researchers tested how microplastics of different sizes move through natural soil and sediment layers, finding that smaller particles (10-20 micrometers) passed through easily while larger ones got trapped. In gravel, over 85% of the smallest microplastics made it through the sediment column. This means microplastics on the land surface can gradually leach down into underground aquifers that supply drinking water, representing a potential route of human exposure.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 34 citations
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