Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Additional data for "Settling Velocities of Small Microplastic Fragments and Fibers"

This data repository provides raw settling velocity measurements for small microplastic fragments and fibers, supporting a publication on their transport behavior in water. Settling velocity data is critical for modeling where microplastics deposit in rivers, lakes, and ocean sediments.

2023 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Improved Settling Velocity for Microplastic Fibers: A New Shape-Dependent Drag Model

A new shape-dependent drag model was developed to improve the accuracy of settling velocity predictions for microplastic fibers, addressing a major limitation of existing drag models that significantly underpredict fiber settling in aquatic environments.

2021 Environmental Science & Technology 85 citations
Article Tier 2

Settling Velocities of Small Microplastic Fragments and Fibers

Researchers precisely measured the settling speeds of over 4,000 small microplastic particles in water and found that existing prediction models designed for larger microplastics do not work well for these tiny fragments and fibers. The settling speed depends on each particle's size, density, and shape, with the smallest particles sinking extremely slowly. Understanding how quickly microplastics settle in water is important because it determines how far they travel and how long they remain available to be consumed by aquatic organisms that humans may eventually eat.

2024 Environmental Science & Technology 63 citations
Article Tier 2

Predicted settling velocity of sampled MPFs

This is a dataset of predicted settling velocities for microplastic fibers using a newly proposed model — not a standalone research article.

2023 Figshare
Article Tier 2

A new model for the terminal settling velocity of microplastics

A new empirical model for the terminal settling velocity of microplastics was developed and validated using 1,343 experimental measurements covering a range of particle shapes and materials. The model improves predictions of microplastic sedimentation rates, which are critical for understanding how plastic particles are transported and deposited in water bodies.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 68 citations
Article Tier 2

Correction to “Incipient Motion of Exposed Microplastics in an Open-Channel Flow”

This is a correction notice to a previously published research article on the incipient motion of microplastics in open-channel water flow. The correction updates specific values or methods in the original study without changing the overall findings.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

Additional data for "Settling Velocities of Small Microplastic Fragments and Fibers"

Researchers provided supplementary data for a study on settling velocities of small microplastic fragments and fibers, including single-particle raw data from settling experiments, computed drag coefficients for each measured MP fragment and fiber, and protocols for preparing microfibers for analysis.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Settling and rising velocities of environmentally weathered micro- and macroplastic particles

Researchers measured settling and rising velocities of environmentally weathered micro- and macroplastic particles collected from rivers, finding that existing predictive formulas developed for virgin pellets, fragments, and foams transferred reasonably well to weathered particles but were less accurate for films and larger macroplastics.

2020 Environmental Research 103 citations
Article Tier 2

Settling velocity of submillimeter microplastic fibers in still water

The settling velocity of 519 submillimeter microplastic fibers (300-600 micrometers long) was measured in still water, finding that settling rates vary considerably by fiber length and orientation, informing models of microplastic fiber transport and deposition in aquatic systems.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Particle Properties on the Settling and Rise Velocities of Microplastics in Freshwater under Laboratory Conditions

Physical experiments quantified the settling and rise velocities of ~500 microplastic particles of varying shapes, sizes, and densities under controlled laboratory conditions, finding velocities ranging from 0.39 cm/s (settling polyamide fibers) to 31.4 cm/s (rising expanded polystyrene), with standard sediment transport formulas inadequate for fibers. The study provides empirical data needed to improve models of microplastic transport in rivers and lakes.

2019 Environmental Science & Technology 425 citations
Article Tier 2

Correction: Ricciardi et al. Microplastics in the Aquatic Environment: Occurrence, Persistence, Analysis, and Human Exposure. Water 2021, 13, 973

This is a published correction notice for a previously published review article on microplastics in aquatic environments.

2023 Water 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Towards realistic predictions of microplastic fiber transport in aquatic environments: Secondary motions

Researchers developed an improved drag model for predicting microplastic fiber settling in water by incorporating secondary motions including tumbling and oscillation in addition to the standard drag forces. Secondary motions profoundly affect settling trajectories and deposited positions, and the new model outperforms existing approaches that neglect these behaviors.

2022 Water Research 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental study on parameterizing microplastic-sediment aggregation

Researchers conducted laboratory flocculation experiments to parameterize microplastic-sediment aggregation, testing fibers, fragments, and spheres of varying sizes and densities to characterize how microplastics and sediment form flocs with enhanced settling velocity, with the goal of improving numerical transport models of microplastic fate in rivers and estuaries.

2025
Article Tier 2

Effects of Shape and Size on Microplastic Atmospheric Settling Velocity

Researchers measured atmospheric settling and horizontal drift velocities of various microplastic shapes and sizes in controlled settling chambers, providing empirical data needed to improve atmospheric transport models that explain how microplastics reach remote environments.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 39 citations
Article Tier 2

A settling velocity formula for irregular shaped microplastic fragments based on new shape factor: Influence of secondary motions

Researchers developed a new shape factor for irregular microplastic fragments and derived a settling velocity formula based on it, using numerical modeling to show that fragment shape governs whether particles sink stably or oscillate — providing more accurate predictions of microplastic transport in rivers and lakes than existing methods.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Gravitational settling of microplastic fibers: experimental results and implications for global transport

This study measured the gravitational settling velocities of microplastic fibers and found that their non-spherical shape causes them to settle much more slowly than spheres of the same volume. Current atmospheric transport models that assume spherical particles significantly underestimate how long fibers remain airborne. These results have important implications for predicting how far microplastic fibers can travel before depositing.

2023
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric transport of microplastic particles as a function of their size and shape

Researchers investigated the atmospheric transport and settling of microplastic particles as a function of size and shape, implementing a shape-correction parameterization for fiber-shaped particles in an atmospheric transport model to better represent their reduced gravitational settling velocity compared to spheres. The study showed that non-spherical fibers experience greater atmospheric drag, increasing their residence time and transport distance, and that including shape effects improved agreement between model output and ground-based measurements.

2022
Article Tier 2

Settling Velocities of Environmentally Weathered Plastic Fibers from the Mekong River in Southeast Asia

Researchers measured the settling velocities of environmentally weathered plastic fibers collected from the Mekong River, finding that weathering significantly alters fiber density and shape, affecting how fibers sink and accumulate in aquatic sediments.

2024 ACS ES&T Water 8 citations
Article Tier 2

The atmospheric settling of commercially sold microplastics

Researchers measured the gravitational settling velocities of commercially available glitter microplastics (0.1-3 mm nominal diameter) and synthetic fibers (1.2-5 mm length) in air, finding that non-spherical shapes cause complex settling behaviors that deviate substantially from spherical particle models used in atmospheric transport models.

2025
Article Tier 2

Author Correction: Non-buoyant microplastic settling velocity varies with biofilm growth and ambient water salinity

This is a published correction to a study on how microplastics sink through water, fixing labeling errors on the axes of a key figure showing the relationship between particle size and settling speed. The original research examined how factors like biofilm growth — the coating of microbes that accumulates on plastic surfaces — and water salinity affect how quickly non-floating microplastics sink.

2023 Communications Earth & Environment 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Modeling Microplastic Transport in the Marine Environment: Testing Empirical Models of Particle Terminal Sinking Velocity for Irregularly Shaped Particles

Researchers tested multiple drag models for predicting the terminal settling velocity of irregularly shaped microplastic particles in seawater, identifying three high-precision models and demonstrating that settling velocity is largely stable across ocean depths and independent of initial particle velocity, improving the accuracy of marine microplastic transport simulations.

2023 ACS ES&T Water 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Optimized and Validated Settling Velocity Measurement for Small Microplastic Particles (10–400 μm)

This study developed and validated a precise laboratory method for measuring how fast small microplastic particles (10–400 µm) sink in water — a key parameter for predicting where microplastics accumulate in aquatic environments. The setup uses a temperature-controlled settling column with optical particle tracking and achieves high accuracy across a range of particle sizes and densities. Accurate settling velocity data for small microplastics is essential for modeling their transport and fate in rivers, lakes, and oceans, which informs risk assessments for aquatic organisms that live at different depths.

2023 ACS ES&T Water 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Correction to: Characteristic of microplastics in the atmospheric fallout from Dongguan City, China: preliminary research and first evidence

This is a published correction to an earlier study on microplastics in atmospheric fallout from Dongguan City, China, fixing two errors in the original article. No new findings are presented.

2019 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Settling velocities of microplastics with different shapes in sediment-water mixtures

Researchers studied how the shape of microplastic particles affects how quickly they sink in water containing suspended sediment. They found that fibers and films settle much more slowly than fragments and pellets, and that sediment in the water significantly slows the settling of all microplastic types. These findings are important for predicting where microplastics accumulate in lakes, rivers, and oceans.

2025 Environmental Pollution 14 citations