Nanoplastic from mechanically degraded primary and secondary microplastics for environmental assessments

• Published in: NanoImpact Vol. 17; p. 100206
• Main Authors: El Hadri, Hind, Gigault, Julien, Maxit, Benoit, Grassl, Bruno, Reynaud, Stéphanie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-01-2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Chemical Sciences; Colloid characterization; Environmental behavior; Environmental Sciences; Nanoplastic formation; Polymers; Nanoplastic formation; Colloid characterization; Environmental behavior
• ISSN: 2452-0748; 2452-0748
• DOI: 10.1016/j.impact.2019.100206

Degradation of plastic waste in the environment leads to the formation of microplastics and nanoplastics. To better understand the fate, behavior and reactivity of nanoplastics, it is essential to conduct experiments with representative and well-characterized nanoplastics. In the present study, we provided a top down method based on mechanical degradation to obtain nanoplastics from both primary and secondary microplastics. These nanoplastics were then characterized in terms of size distribution, morphology and surface charge. It was found that they are highly polydisperse with different shapes and negatively charged surfaces and therefore very close to natural colloid characteristics. These nanoplastics may share similarities with environmental nanoplastics as referred to their chemical nature and morphology. Their physicochemical properties have been studied vs. salinity, pH and temperature.
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•A top down method based on mechanical degradation providing randomly shaped nanoplastics•Production of polydisperse, anisotropic and negatively charged nanoplastics•Nanoplastic stability assessment