Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Physicochemical changes in microplastics and formation of DBPs under ozonation

Researchers examined physicochemical changes in thermoplastic polyurethane and polyethylene microplastics during ozonation water treatment, finding that the process can alter microplastic morphology and potentially generate disinfection byproducts.

2023 Chemosphere 14 citations
Article Tier 2

The effect of Ozonation on the chemical structure of microplastics

Ozone treatment of microplastics in water caused oxidative changes to polymer surfaces including carbonyl group formation and surface cracking, which altered hydrophobicity and potentially increased the capacity of treated particles to adsorb contaminants, suggesting that ozonation in water treatment may chemically transform rather than eliminate microplastic hazards.

2021 IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Ozonation and its Application in Wastewater Treatment

Not relevant to microplastics — this review covers ozonation and catalytic ozonation as wastewater disinfection and organic pollutant degradation technologies, with no focus on microplastic contamination.

2023 International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Changes in physical and chemical properties of microplastics by ozonation

Researchers examined how ozone treatment in water systems changes the physical and chemical properties of six common types of microplastics. They found that ozonation altered surface roughness, wettability, and chemical composition of the plastics, with some types being more affected than others. The findings are important because these changes could influence how microplastics interact with other pollutants and organisms in treated water.

2024 Process Safety and Environmental Protection 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics on water disinfection and formation of disinfection by-products

This review examines how the presence of microplastics in drinking water and wastewater interferes with chlorination and ozonation disinfection processes, potentially reducing their effectiveness and generating harmful disinfection by-products. Microplastics can leach dissolved organic carbon that reacts with disinfectants, and they serve as refuges for antibiotic-resistant bacteria that may survive standard treatment. The authors call for more realistic laboratory experiments and field studies to properly assess the real-world risks that microplastics pose inside water treatment plants.

2025 Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Removal of Organic Micropollutants and Microplastics via Ozonation Followed by Granular Activated Carbon Filtration

A pilot ozonation and granular activated carbon filtration system at a German wastewater treatment plant removed over 80% of organic micropollutants and transformation products, but had minimal impact on microplastic concentrations, indicating a gap in treatment efficacy.

2024 Environments 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Reactivity of four model microplastics with ozone.

Researchers investigated the reactivity of four model microplastic types with ozone, examining how ozone treatment affects the physicochemical properties of microplastics as a potential water treatment strategy for degrading plastic particles.

2025 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository
Article Tier 2

The impact of ozonation on PET and PVC microplastics in model urban wastewater

Researchers investigated the effects of 6-hour ozonation treatment on PET and PVC microplastics in model urban wastewater, evaluating ozonation as an advanced oxidation process for microplastic degradation and assessing changes in polymer structure and surface chemistry for both plastic types.

2025 Global NEST International Conference on Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and Distribution of Emerging Contaminants: Ozonolytic Removal in Aqueous Matrices

This review examines emerging contaminants (ECs) -- including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides -- across multiple environmental habitats, and assesses ozonolysis as a removal strategy for EC-contaminated aqueous matrices. The authors evaluate ozone-based treatment efficiency across contaminant classes and discuss conditions that optimize removal of both chemical pollutants and associated microplastic particles.

2024 ACS symposium series 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Tertiary/quaternary treatment of urban wastewater by UV/H2O2 or ozonation: Microplastics may affect removal of E. coli and contaminants of emerging concern

Researchers investigated how polyethylene microplastics interfere with UV/hydrogen peroxide and ozonation treatments used to disinfect urban wastewater. They found that increasing microplastic concentrations reduced the effectiveness of both treatment methods at killing E. coli bacteria and degrading pharmaceutical contaminants. The study suggests that microplastic pollution in wastewater could compromise advanced treatment processes designed to protect public health.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced Adsorption of Bromoform onto Microplastic Polyethylene Terephthalate Exposed to Ozonation and Chlorination

Researchers found that ozonation and chlorination of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics increased their surface hydrophilicity and carbonyl groups, significantly enhancing their adsorption capacity for the disinfection by-product bromoform.

2022 Molecules 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Ozone-mediated breakdown of microplastics in aqueous environments

Researchers examined how ozone-based advanced oxidation processes break down microplastics in water treatment settings. They found that while ozone can degrade certain plastics, the effectiveness varies depending on particle size, polymer type, and treatment conditions, and the process may generate nanoplastic byproducts. The study highlights both the promise and limitations of ozone treatment as a strategy for removing microplastics from wastewater.

2025 Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Effective Removal of Microplastics Using a Process of Ozonation Followed by Flocculation with Aluminum Sulfate and Polyacrylamide

Researchers tested a two-step water treatment process combining ozonation with flocculation to remove microplastics. They found that ozone pretreatment roughened the microplastic surfaces and added chemical groups that dramatically improved removal rates, from 40% to 91%, during the subsequent flocculation step. The findings suggest this combined approach could significantly enhance microplastic removal in conventional water treatment plants.

2025 Separations 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Degradation in Water: A Review of Advanced Oxidative Processes and Ozonation for Effective Treatment

This review examines advanced oxidative processes (AOPs) and ozonation as emerging technologies for degrading microplastics in drinking water and aquatic environments, covering both identification and quantification methods alongside treatment efficacy. The authors assess the challenges and capabilities of these approaches in addressing the growing concern over microplastic contamination in water supplies.

2025 Asian Journal of Chemistry
Article Tier 2

The effect of water ozonation in the presence of microplastics on water quality and microplastics degradation

Researchers tested how ozone-based water treatment affects microplastic particles and found that the process can break down the plastics, releasing harmful chemicals like phthalic acid esters into the treated water. Polyethylene was the most susceptible to degradation, with surface area losses up to about 27%. The study suggests that water treatment plants may unintentionally worsen water quality when microplastics are present during ozonation.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of different oxidants on the behaviour of microplastic hetero-aggregates

Researchers studied how different oxidants (ozone, chlorine, UV) affect the aggregation and settling behavior of microplastics in water treatment, finding that oxidation altered surface chemistry and changed hetero-aggregate formation with natural particles. The results have implications for predicting microplastic removal efficiency in drinking water and wastewater treatment plants.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Ozonation facilitates the aging and mineralization of polyethylene microplastics from water: Behavior, mechanisms, and pathways

Ozonation was shown to accelerate the aging and partial mineralization of polyethylene microplastics, with surface oxidation creating more reactive particles susceptible to further degradation. The study provides mechanistic insight into how advanced oxidation processes could contribute to microplastic breakdown in water treatment.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 56 citations
Article Tier 2

Transformation of Traditional Wastewater Treatment Methods into Advanced Oxidation Processes and the Role of Ozonation

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it reviews advanced oxidation processes with a focus on ozonation for wastewater treatment, covering microbial inactivation and degradation of organic pollutants.

2023 Journal of Ecological Engineering 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Estudo da degradação de microplásticos em água e efluente secundário de estação de tratamento de esgoto por processos baseados em ozônio

This Brazilian study tested ozone-based water treatment processes for degrading polyethylene microplastics in both clean water and secondary wastewater effluent. While ozonation could break down microplastics into smaller fragments and dissolved organic carbon, it did not fully eliminate them, suggesting the need for combined treatment approaches.

2022 LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Article Tier 2

The potential risks posed by micro-nanoplastics to the safety of disinfected drinking water

This review examines the risks that micro- and nanoplastics pose to the safety of disinfected drinking water. Researchers found that common disinfection processes like ozone, chlorine, and UV treatment can actually make plastics more harmful by promoting leaching of organic compounds and generating disinfection byproducts. The study suggests that enhanced treatment technologies such as advanced coagulation, membrane filtration, and improved detection methods are needed to effectively remove these contaminants and prevent secondary hazards.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Surface modification of polyethylene microplastic particles during the aqueous-phase ozonation process

Researchers examined the surface modification of polyethylene microplastics during aqueous-phase ozonation, finding that increasing ozone dosage and exposure time progressively increased carbonyl and hydroxyl functional groups on the particle surface. FTIR and XPS analysis showed ozonation altered the surface chemistry of polyethylene microplastics in ways that could change their environmental fate and pollutant adsorption capacity.

2020 Environmental Engineering Research 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Volatile organic compounds generation pathways and mechanisms from microplastics in water: Ultraviolet, chlorine and ultraviolet/chlorine disinfection

Researchers examined how UV, chlorine, and combined UV/chlorine disinfection treatments cause microplastics to release volatile organic compounds, identifying distinct degradation pathways for polypropylene, polystyrene, and PVC that generate diverse chemical byproducts in treated water.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 36 citations
Article Tier 2

Insight into the effect of UVC-based advanced oxidation processes on the interaction of typical microplastics and their derived disinfection byproducts during disinfection

Scientists found that UV-based water treatment processes, while intended to clean drinking water, caused microplastics to release more organic matter and form more disinfection byproducts during chlorination. Up to 42% of the toxic byproducts formed were absorbed back onto the microplastic surfaces, creating contaminated particles. This concerning finding suggests that some common water treatment methods could unintentionally make microplastic contamination in drinking water more hazardous.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions between microplastics and organic compounds in aquatic environments: A mini review

Researchers reviewed the mechanisms of interaction between microplastics and organic compounds in aquatic environments, examining factors related to the plastics themselves, the organic compounds, and environmental conditions. The study found that properties like crystallinity, surface area, and weathering state of microplastics all influence how they adsorb and transport organic pollutants, with implications for environmental and health risk assessments.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 290 citations