Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Transport and retention mechanism of microplastics in saturated porous media: Dominance of layer sequence and modulation by solution chemistry

Researchers found that the layered sequence of sand structures in saturated porous media dominates microplastic transport and retention patterns, with coarse-to-fine layering trapping more particles than fine-to-coarse sequences, and solution chemistry further modulating these physical effects.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics dominate the cotransport of small-scale plastics in seawater-saturated porous media

Researchers found that nanoplastics dominated cotransport behavior when mixed with submicro- and microplastics in seawater-saturated sandy porous media, with particle-particle interactions significantly altering transport distances compared to single-component systems.

2022 Water Research 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Attachment and detachment of large microplastics in saturated porous media and its influencing factors

Researchers investigated how large microplastics (10-20 micrometers) move through saturated sand, finding that water flow rate, particle size ratio, salinity, and pH all significantly influenced microplastic attachment and detachment in porous media.

2022 Chemosphere 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of Nano- and Microplastic Particles on the Transport and Deposition Behaviors of Bacteria in Quartz Sand

Laboratory column experiments showed that nano- and microplastic particles significantly altered the transport and deposition of bacteria in porous quartz sand, with plastic particles either facilitating or inhibiting bacterial mobility depending on size and surface charge. The findings suggest that microplastics in soil and sediment environments could affect the spread of bacteria, including potential pathogens.

2018 Environmental Science & Technology 175 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro- and nanoplastics retention in porous media exhibits different dependence on grain surface roughness and clay coating with particle size

Researchers found that grain surface roughness and clay coatings affect the retention of microplastics and nanoplastics in porous media differently depending on particle size, with nanoplastics behaving oppositely to microplastics in certain soil conditions — complicating predictions of plastic transport in groundwater systems.

2022 Water Research 38 citations
Article Tier 2

The selective occurrence of ripening effect makes the cotransport of various sized nanoplastics in seawater-saturated and freshwater-saturated porous media significantly different

Researchers investigated how nanoplastics of different sizes co-transport through freshwater versus seawater-saturated porous media, finding that in seawater a "ripening" effect — where deposited particles make surfaces stickier — causes nanoplastics to mutually enhance each other's retention, producing fundamentally different fate patterns than in freshwater.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics/nanoplastics in porous media: Key factors controlling their transport and retention behaviors

This review examines what controls how microplastics and nanoplastics move through soil and other porous materials like sand and sediment. Factors like particle size, shape, surface charge, water flow speed, and the presence of other pollutants all influence whether plastics stay in place or travel deeper into groundwater. Understanding these transport behaviors is important for assessing the risk of microplastics contaminating underground drinking water sources.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics as carriers of organic pollutants in seawater-saturated porous media: a quantitative comparison of transport pathways

Researchers quantitatively compared transport pathways of non-polar organic pollutants carried by nanoplastics through seawater-saturated porous media, demonstrating that the carrier effect of nanoplastics is the primary mechanism inhibiting pollutant migration and enabling their co-transport in coastal and marine subsurface environments.

2025 Environmental Science Nano
Article Tier 2

Bacteria have different effects on the transport behaviors of positively and negatively charged microplastics in porous media

Experiments in porous media showed that bacteria differentially affect the transport of positively and negatively charged microplastics, with bacterial biofilms enhancing retention of positively charged particles while having less effect on negatively charged ones.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 81 citations
Article Tier 2

Retention and transport behavior of microplastic particles in water-saturated porous media

Researchers investigated microplastic transport in water-saturated porous media using polystyrene microspheres, finding that particle size primarily determined retention behavior, with 50 nm particles showing high mobility while 500 nm particles exhibited greater attachment and slower migration.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 105 citations
Article Tier 2

Key factors controlling transport of micro- and nanoplastic in porous media and its effect on coexisting pollutants

Researchers reviewed the key factors that control how micro- and nanoplastics move through porous media such as soil and sediment, and how they affect the transport of co-occurring pollutants. They found that microplastics can either facilitate or inhibit the movement of other contaminants depending on particle properties and environmental conditions. The review emphasizes the need to better understand these co-transport dynamics for predicting the environmental fate of plastic pollution.

2021 Environmental Pollution 89 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport and retention of polyethylene microplastics in saturated porous media: Effect of physicochemical properties

Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics move through water-saturated sand and gravel, testing the effects of particle size, water chemistry, and flow speed. They found that smaller microplastics traveled farther through the porous material, while higher salt concentrations and lower flow rates increased particle retention. The findings help explain how microplastics may spread through groundwater systems under real-world conditions.

2025 Environmental Pollution and Management 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Different inhibitory mechanisms of flexible and rigid clay minerals on the transport of microplastics in marine porous media

Experiments showed that flexible montmorillonite clay formed tight coatings around microplastics that retarded their transport through marine porous media, while rigid kaolinite formed weaker attachments that were more easily disrupted by high salinity.

2024 Environmental Pollution 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanisms of increased small nanoplastic particle retention in water-saturated sand media with montmorillonite and diatomite: Particle sizes, water components, and modelling

Researchers compared how clay minerals (diatomite and montmorillonite) affect the transport of 20 nm and 80 nm polystyrene nanoplastics through water-saturated sand columns, finding that very small nanoplastics (20 nm) can enter diatomite's porous lattice structure, enhancing their retention, while montmorillonite more broadly inhibited transport of both sizes.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Retention mechanisms of microplastics in soil environments during saturation-desaturation cycles: Impact of hydrophobicity and pore geometry

This study used tiny lab models of soil pores to examine how microplastics get trapped in soil depending on their water-repelling properties and the shape of soil passages. More water-repellent microplastics stuck more firmly to surfaces and were retained at higher rates, up to 50% in some conditions. Understanding how microplastics move through soil is important for predicting whether they will reach groundwater or stay trapped near the surface where they can affect crops.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 5 citations
Article Tier 2

The individual transport, cotransport and immobilization with solar pyrolysis biochar of microplastics and plasticizer in sandy soil

Researchers tracked the individual transport, co-transport, and immobilization of microplastics in porous media, finding that plastic particle behavior differs significantly depending on surface charge and pore structure interactions. The results improve predictions of where microplastics migrate and accumulate in soils and aquifers.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Cotransport and deposition of biochar with different sized-plastic particles in saturated porous media

Researchers studied how biochar and plastic particles (nanoplastics and microplastics) mutually affect each other's transport through water-saturated sand, finding that small plastic particles enhanced biochar mobility while biochar consistently suppressed plastic particle transport across all sizes, due to heteroaggregation altering surface charge and steric interactions.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 96 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of surface functionalities of nanoplastics on their transport in seawater-saturated sea sand

Researchers examined the transport of surface-functionalized nanoplastics through seawater-saturated sea sand, finding that carboxyl-functionalized particles had the highest mobility while positively charged amino-functionalized particles showed lowest recovery due to stronger attraction to sand surfaces and homoaggregation.

2019 Environmental Pollution 134 citations
Article Tier 2

Algae polysaccharide-induced transport transformation of nanoplastics in seawater-saturated porous media

Researchers examined how three types of algae polysaccharides affect the aggregation and transport of nanoplastics through seawater-saturated sand. They found that coating nanoplastics with these natural compounds dramatically changed their mobility, with sodium alginate and fucoidan reducing aggregation and increasing transport through the porous media. The study suggests that naturally occurring algae compounds in marine environments may significantly influence where nanoplastics end up.

2024 Water Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic accumulation, depuration dynamics and localization in environmental compartments: combination of experimental set ups and field studies

Researchers tracked microplastic accumulation and depuration in multiple environmental compartments and marine organisms using controlled microcosm experiments. The study found that particles distribute differently across sediment, water, and biota, and that biological depuration is incomplete within realistic timeframes.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Mechanism comparisons of transport-deposition-reentrainment between microplastics and natural mineral particles in porous media: A theoretical and experimental study

Researchers compared the transport, deposition, and re-entrainment behavior of microplastic particles versus natural mineral particles in porous media, finding key differences driven by density, surface charge, and shape that affect how microplastics migrate through soils and sediments.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 30 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of different microplastics in porous media: Effect of the adhesion of surfactants on microplastics

Researchers investigated how surfactant adhesion on different microplastic surfaces affects their transport through porous media, finding that surfactant interactions vary with microplastic type and significantly alter their mobility in subsurface environments.

2022 Water Research 99 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport and Retention of Unstable Nanoparticle Suspensions in Porous Media: Effects of Salinity and Hydrophobicity Observed in Microfluidic Pore Networks

Scientists studied how tiny plastic particles move through soil and rock underground, which helps us understand what happens to microplastics in our environment. They found that salty water and oily surfaces cause these particles to clump together and get permanently stuck in the ground, which could affect how microplastics spread through groundwater. This research helps us better predict where microplastics might end up and how to design systems to trap them before they reach our drinking water sources.

2026
Article Tier 2

Behaviour and transport of microplastics under saturated flow conditions in sediments and soils

Researchers investigated the behaviour and transport of microplastics under saturated flow conditions in sediments and soils, examining how particle properties influence movement through porous media. The study aimed to improve understanding of subsurface microplastic fate and transport relevant to both soil and groundwater contamination.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)