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

Assessing the size transformation of nanoplastics in natural water matrices

Researchers studied how nanoplastics change in size when placed in different types of natural water, including freshwater and seawater. They found that factors like pH, salt content, and dissolved organic matter significantly influenced whether the particles clumped together or remained small. The findings are important for understanding how nanoplastics behave in real-world aquatic environments and assessing their potential risks.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding the stability of nanoplastics in aqueous environments: effect of ionic strength, temperature, dissolved organic matter, clay, and heavy metals

This study examined how environmental factors including ionic strength, temperature, dissolved organic matter, and clay affect the stability and aggregation of nanoplastics in water, finding that these conditions significantly influence particle behavior. Understanding nanoplastic stability is critical for predicting their fate, transport, and bioavailability in aquatic systems.

2019 Environmental Science Nano 237 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of environmental and biological macromolecules on aggregation kinetics of nanoplastics in aquatic systems

Researchers studied how natural macromolecules like humic acid, alginate, and proteins influence the clumping behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics in water. They found that these macromolecules generally stabilized nanoplastics in sodium chloride solutions but caused them to aggregate in calcium chloride solutions, with effects varying by pH. The findings suggest that the environmental fate and transport of nanoplastics in natural waters depends heavily on the surrounding organic molecules and water chemistry.

2020 Water Research 135 citations
Article Tier 2

Structural Compactness Governs the Environmental Fate of Polystyrene Nanoplastics: Reaggregation Mechanisms in Laboratory-Scale Aquatic Systems.

Scientists studied how tiny plastic particles from polystyrene (smaller than the width of a human hair) behave in water under different conditions like saltiness and water movement. They found that these plastic particles can break apart and stick back together, staying suspended in water for long periods and traveling far distances through rivers and oceans. This matters because it means these microscopic plastics could spread widely through water systems and potentially end up in our drinking water and food chain.

2026 Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)
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

Effects of temperature and particle concentration on aggregation of nanoplastics in freshwater and seawater

The aggregation behavior of nanoplastics in freshwater and seawater was studied at different temperatures and particle concentrations, finding that salinity, particle concentration, and temperature all significantly influenced aggregation rates with implications for nanoplastic fate in aquatic environments.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 65 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation kinetics of microplastics in aquatic environment: Complex roles of electrolytes, pH, and natural organic matter

Researchers found that the aggregation behavior of polystyrene microplastics in water was strongly influenced by pH, ionic strength, and the presence of natural organic matter, with divalent cations like calcium and magnesium promoting aggregation. Understanding aggregation kinetics is critical for predicting how microplastics partition between suspended and settled states in natural water bodies.

2018 Environmental Pollution 249 citations
Article Tier 2

Heteroaggregation of nanoplastic particles in the presence of inorganic colloids and natural organic matter

Nanoplastics were found to heteroaggregate extensively with inorganic colloids and natural organic matter in both freshwater and marine conditions, altering their size, surface charge, and settling behavior compared to pristine particles. The study demonstrates that nanoplastic behavior in natural waters is dominated by interactions with other environmental constituents rather than the intrinsic properties of the plastic alone.

2018 Environmental Science Nano 227 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 Aggregation in Environment: Analytical Methods and Environmental Implications

This review examines how nanoplastics aggregate in the environment—clumping together or attaching to other particles—and how this affects their analysis and ecological impact. Aggregation changes how nanoplastics move through water and accumulate in organisms, complicating risk assessment for these extremely small plastic particles.

2021 IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science
Article Tier 2

Interaction between Microplastics and Pharmaceuticals Depending on the Composition of Aquatic Environment

This review examines how aquatic environmental conditions — including dissolved organic matter, salinity, pH, and temperature — influence the adsorption and desorption of pharmaceuticals onto microplastic surfaces, showing that water composition significantly affects the extent to which microplastics act as vectors for drug contaminants.

2022 Microplastics 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic understanding of the aggregation kinetics of nanoplastics in marine environments: Comparing synthetic and natural water matrices

Researchers investigated aggregation kinetics of polystyrene nanoplastics in marine environments, finding that organic matter type and salt concentration strongly influenced particle stability, with nanoplastics in natural seawater aggregating differently than in synthetic matrices.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Heterogeneous aggregation of microplastics and mineral particles in aquatic environments: Effects of surface functional groups, pH, and electrolytes

Researchers studied how microplastics clump together with soil and rock minerals in water, finding that positively charged minerals bound to plastic particles nearly three times more effectively than clay minerals, and that low pH and calcium ions dramatically accelerated aggregation. Understanding these dynamics helps predict where microplastics will settle or stay suspended in rivers, lakes, and aquifers.

2025 Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Heteroaggregation, disaggregation, and migration of nanoplastics with nanosized activated carbon in aquatic environments: Effects of particle property, water chemistry, and hydrodynamic condition

Researchers studied how nanosized activated carbon interacts with positively and negatively charged nanoplastics under various water chemistry and hydrodynamic conditions. They found that aggregation behavior depended strongly on particle charge, pH, and the presence of natural organic matter like humic acid. The study suggests that interactions with engineered nanomaterials in aquatic environments can significantly influence how far nanoplastics travel, with implications for predicting their environmental fate.

2024 Water Research 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Heteroaggregation kinetics of oppositely charged nanoplastics in aquatic environments: Effects of particle ratio, solution chemistry, and interaction sequence

Researchers investigated how oppositely charged nanoplastics clump together (heteroaggregation) in water under varying pH, salt, and natural organic matter conditions, finding that electrostatic attraction drives aggregation but humic acid retards it more than sodium alginate, while the sequence and timing of chemical interactions also significantly alters the final aggregation behavior.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 13 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

Raman spectra characterization of size-dependent aggregation and dispersion of polystyrene particles in aquatic environments.

This study used Raman spectroscopy to examine how the presence of salt, proteins, and organic matter influences the aggregation and dispersion of polystyrene nanoplastics in water. The findings show that environmental conditions significantly alter nanoplastic behavior and can complicate their detection, which has implications for understanding how nanoplastics move through aquatic environments.

2023 Chemosphere
Article Tier 2

Adsorption behavior of organic pollutants and metals on micro/nanoplastics in the aquatic environment

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic environments adsorb organic pollutants and metals onto their surfaces, effectively acting as carriers for other contaminants. Researchers found that environmental factors like pH, salinity, and aging of the plastic significantly influence this sorption behavior. The findings raise concerns that microplastics may increase the bioavailability and toxicity of chemical pollutants in waterways.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 685 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