Issue 3, 2018

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

Abstract

The presence and accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics in marine and fresh waters represent a huge environmental concern. Due to the complexity of nanoplastic surface chemistry and impact of the surrounding aquatic environment, the fate of nanoplastics is still difficult to evaluate. Our study aims to explore the effect of different water components such as natural organic matter and inorganic colloids as well as water composition on the stability of polystyrene nanoplastics. Heteroaggregation experiments are performed under contrasting conditions by considering mixtures of three components: nanoplastics, Fe2O3 and alginate and at different concentration ratios. It is found that the charge neutralization mechanism in most cases is responsible for the formation of large heteroaggregates. A shift in the optimal heteroaggregation concentration is observed in the presence of alginate indicating competitive effects between alginate and Fe2O3. The formation of primary heteroaggregates is found to be a requisite before the formation of large structures. The behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics is also studied here in natural water from the Rhône river. Nanoplastic particles are found to rapidly change their surface charge from positive to negative and form small heteroaggregates at low concentration. Increasing the nanoplastic particle concentration is found to result in the formation of large heteroaggregates when the isoelectric point is achieved indicating the importance of nanoplastic surface charge neutralization.

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

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 nov 2017
Accepted
01 feb 2018
First published
07 feb 2018

Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2018,5, 792-799

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

O. Oriekhova and S. Stoll, Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2018, 5, 792 DOI: 10.1039/C7EN01119A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements