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Microplastics
Special Issues
Advances in Identification and characterization of Degraded Microplastics
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Advances in Identification and characterization of Degraded Microplastics

A Special Issue of Microplastics (ISSN 2673-8929).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 3837

Editor

Prof. Dr. Jose Manuel Cervantes-Uc

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Unidad de Materiales, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A.C. Calle 43 No. 130 x 32 y 34, Chuburná de Hidalgo, CP 97205 Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
Interests: biomaterials and tissue engineering; microplastics; biopolymers; plastic degradation; weathering of microplastics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Most published papers on microplastics focus on the detection and characterization of microplastic particles in various ecosystems, parts of the human body, and biological samples, which has raised concerns regarding the potential toxic effects of these materials and their impacts on human health. It is not currently understood why microplastics exhibit toxic effects. Additives and persistent organic pollutants have been considered contributing factors to the toxicity of microplastics, although the possibility that these effects are also related to the degradation of microplastics cannot be ruled out. This hypothesis is based on the fact that microplastics are often exposed to environmental conditions that modify their original chemical composition, yielding new functional groups. This could not only trigger potential toxic effects, but also hinder the correct identification of microplastics using conventional techniques (FTIR, Raman, LDIR, etc.). This degradation phenomenon is of particular importance to the study of microplastics because microplastics have a larger surface area than macro- and mesoplastics. Therefore, this Special Issue will be devoted to presenting recent studies of the structural changes that microplastics undergo when exposed to natural and/or artificial (accelerated) weathering, as well as the development of methodologies that allow for the identification of totally or partially degraded microplastics. Papers exploring the potential toxic effects of degraded microplastics are also welcome.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Polymers.

Dr. Jose Manuel Cervantes-Uc
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microplastics is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microplastics degradation
  • photodegradation
  • toxicity of degraded microplastics
  • microplastics identification
  • degraded microplastics

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 19647 KB  
Article
Determination of the Best Digestion and Extraction Methods for the Quantification of Microplastics in Landfill Leachate
by Francisco Alvirde-Díaz, Fredy Cuellar-Robles, Javier Illescas, Alethia Vázquez-Morillas, María del Carmen Carreño de León and María del Consuelo Hernández-Berriel
Microplastics 2026, 5(3), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/microplastics5030134 - 3 Jul 2026
Viewed by 723
Abstract
Microplastics (MP) in landfill leachate represent an analytical challenge due to matrix complexity and the need for methods that remove interferents without degrading polymers. This study evaluated the efficiency of four digestion methods (30% H2O2, Fenton, 10% NaOH, and [...] Read more.
Microplastics (MP) in landfill leachate represent an analytical challenge due to matrix complexity and the need for methods that remove interferents without degrading polymers. This study evaluated the efficiency of four digestion methods (30% H2O2, Fenton, 10% NaOH, and 20% HCl) and three density separation solutions (CaCl2, NaI, and ZnCl2) for MP quantification in leachate from the Zinacantepec Sanitary Landfill, Mexico. Samples were spiked with seven polymer types (polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyamide (PA)). Results analyzed by ANOVA (p < 0.05) showed that Fenton reagent was the most efficient digestion method, achieving 99% MP recovery, whereas alkaline and acid digestions caused degradation of PET, PS, and PA. Regarding density separation, ZnCl2 (1.7 g/cm3) achieved recovery exceeding 99% for all polymers. The proposed protocol enables effective isolation and identification of degraded microplastics, contributing to advance the understanding of degradation processes and transformation pathways of MP in complex environmental matrices. The combination of Fenton digestion and ZnCl2 separation showed the highest overall performance, with an efficiency greater than 96%, supporting its use as a reliable protocol for MP quantification in leachate and contributing to methodological standardization in this field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Identification and characterization of Degraded Microplastics)
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13 pages, 6459 KB  
Article
Accelerated Oxidative Aging of Microplastics and Its Effect on Copper Sorption Behavior
by Taiwo Ayorinde, Amanda K. Charlton-Sevcik, William C. Hockaday and Christie M. Sayes
Microplastics 2026, 5(2), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/microplastics5020115 - 6 Jun 2026
Viewed by 1224
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) in wastewater treatment plants are exposed to oxidative conditions during disinfection and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), which can alter morphology and surface chemistry and influence interactions with coexisting contaminants. Here, accelerated chemical oxidation was simulated using heat-activated potassium persulfate (K2 [...] Read more.
Microplastics (MPs) in wastewater treatment plants are exposed to oxidative conditions during disinfection and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), which can alter morphology and surface chemistry and influence interactions with coexisting contaminants. Here, accelerated chemical oxidation was simulated using heat-activated potassium persulfate (K2S2O8) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) to examine the oxidative aging of MPs made from polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polypropylene (PP). Changes in particle morphology and surface chemistry before and after oxidant treatment were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for morphological analysis and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy for chemical characterization. Carbonyl formation, an indicator of polymer oxidation, was evaluated using the carbonyl index (CI). Both oxidants induced surface morphological defects and carbonyl functional groups in the MPs, with CI increasing with degradation time. The CI trends suggest that MP oxidation varies with polymer type and oxidant. The effect of oxidative aging on MP sorption capacity was also investigated using copper ions as a model inorganic constituent. Although oxidative aging introduced oxygen-containing functional groups, no statistically significant differences in copper sorption were observed between pristine and oxidized MPs, indicating that MPs can act as vectors for copper regardless of their degree of surface oxidation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Identification and characterization of Degraded Microplastics)
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Review

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37 pages, 1553 KB  
Review
UV Weathering of Microplastics: Linking Surface Oxidation, Bulk Molecular and Mechanical Degradation, and Fragmentation Metrics Within a QA/QC Framework for Biomonitoring
by Aleksandra Bozic, Branka Hadzic, Zorica Lazarevic and Milica Curcic
Microplastics 2026, 5(2), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/microplastics5020099 - 26 May 2026
Viewed by 1351
Abstract
Sunlight-driven UV weathering is a major transformation pathway of environmental microplastics, promoting surface oxidation, molecular degradation, embrittlement, and progressive fragmentation toward smaller size fractions. However, comparisons across studies remain difficult because weathering is often described using descriptors that probe different aspects of degradation [...] Read more.
Sunlight-driven UV weathering is a major transformation pathway of environmental microplastics, promoting surface oxidation, molecular degradation, embrittlement, and progressive fragmentation toward smaller size fractions. However, comparisons across studies remain difficult because weathering is often described using descriptors that probe different aspects of degradation without being clearly distinguished. Surface-sensitive oxidation metrics, such as carbonyl or oxidation indices (CI/OI), are frequently emphasized, whereas fragmentation and embrittlement are more directly governed by bulk molecular-weight loss, mechanical weakening, and particle-size evolution. This review examines UV weathering of common polymers through a coupled chemico-mechanical perspective relevant to the micro-to-nano transition. We distinguish surface chemical descriptors, bulk molecular and mechanical descriptors, and fragmentation-related metrics, and critically assess the analytical methods used to measure them, including FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, GPC/SEC, thermal methods, mechanical testing, and particle-size analyses. We argue that no single metric is sufficient to describe weathering progression, and that meaningful interpretation requires joint reporting of oxidation state, Mn/Mw changes, mechanical deterioration where available, and particle-size distribution as a function of cumulative or spectrum-weighted UV dose. We further propose a minimal QA/QC reporting framework including UV metadata, temperature, oxygen availability, blanks, replicates, recovery tests, and matrix-specific detection limits. By separating what different methods actually probe and linking them to fragmentation mechanisms, this review provides a more operational basis for interpreting UV-aged microplastics in environmental sampling and biomonitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Identification and characterization of Degraded Microplastics)
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