Advances in Microplastic Aging, Degradation, and Contaminant Interactions
A Special Issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360) belonging to the section "Circular and Green Sustainable Polymer Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 52
Editor
Interests: microplastics; environmental monitoring; ecology; separation chemistry; wastewater treatment; environmental chemistry; polymer chemistry; chemical engineering; green chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Microplastics (MPs) undergo continuous physicochemical transformations when exposed to environmental stressors. Photo-oxidation, mechanical shear, and biodegradation collectively alter their pristine structures. This weathering process exponentially increases specific surface area and introduces oxygenated functional groups. Consequently, aged MPs exhibit altered surface charges, crystallinity, and hydrophobicity.
These structural modifications fundamentally change their interaction with co-existing environmental contaminants. Weathered particles show enhanced sorption capacities for heavy metals and hydrophobic organic pollutants. Acting as dynamic vectors, aged MPs alter the transport, bioavailability, and toxicity of hazardous chemicals. Understanding these coupled aging and sorption mechanisms is critical for predicting ecological risks.
The purpose of this Special Issue is to collect contributions regarding the following topics:
- Mechanisms of aging (e.g., breaks in polymer chains by UV radiations, particle fragmentation by mechanical abrasion, plastic surface alteration by chemical oxidation, and biofouling);
- Surface transformations (e.g., oxygen groups creating a negative surface charge and hydrophobicity changes);
- Contaminant interactions (e.g., adsorbtion onto highly porous surfaces, heavy metals vs new functional oxygen groups, desorption mechanism, and vector effect for toxic chemicals and organisms);
- Analytical techniques (e.g., FTIR, XPS, and SEM);
- Impact on human health and the environment.
Prof. Dr. Loris Pietrelli
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. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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 mechanism
- additive release
- emerging pollutants
- polymer aging
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