Environmental Science: Nano最新文献

{"title":"Stable staining of microplastics using conjugated polymer nanoparticles","authors":"Hannah Peace, M. Broadsmith, Dermott O'Callaghan, D. Kaloudis, R. L. Coppock, Mark Green","doi":"10.1039/d5en00026b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5en00026b","url":null,"abstract":"Microplastics are a recognised global pollutant, contaminating almost all aspects of our daily life, the detection of which primarily relies on visual inspection. The use of a stable and consistent imaging agent is therefore of paramount importance. In this report, we describe the use of conjugated polymer nanoparticles as staining agents, which can, in specific cases, provide a positive stain up to 30 months after initial marking.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"210 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143495985","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Poly(lactic acid) nanoplastics through laser ablation: Establishing a reference model for mimicking biobased nanoplastics in aquatic environments.","authors":"Malavika Manjusudheer, Arezou Fazli, Stefania Sganga, Nicola Tirelli, Riccardo Carzino, MARINA VERONESI, Kirill Khabarov, Athanassia Athanassiou, Despina Fragouli","doi":"10.1039/d4en00891j","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4en00891j","url":null,"abstract":"Due to the well-documented negative environmental impacts of conventional plastics, the use of bioplastics has been increasing. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is currently among the most common and industrially available bioplastics. Although PLA is compostable under industrial conditions and generally degrades more quickly than conventional plastics, its breakdown in typical environmental settings remains problematic. PLA’s potential to contribute to plastic pollution through the release of microplastics and nanoplastics makes it crucial to understand how these particles behave, especially in marine environments. However, as for all nanoplastics, identifying, isolating, and quantifying PLA nanoplastics in water presents significant challenges. This study proposes a versatile approach to fabricate PLA nanoplastics through laser ablation in a water environment to mimic real-world samples. Commencing with bulk PLA films, this top-down method yields the formation of nanoplastics with an average diameter of 54.7 ± 26.7 nm. Surface and chemical analyses confirm the presence of carboxylic groups on their surface, potentially resembling the environmental degradation pathway of PLA under exposure to sunlight and humid environments. This indicates that the proposed process results in a PLA nanoplastics system that serves as an invaluable reference model, enabling realistic environmental scenario explorations and simulations for risk assessment evaluations on bio-based nanoplastics.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143486550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Blue micro-/nanoplastics abundance in the environment: a double threat as a Trojan horse for a plastic-Cu-phthalocyanine pigment and an opportunity for nanoplastic detection via micro-Raman spectroscopy","authors":"Ioana Cârdan, Ion Nesterovschi, Lucian Barbu-Tudoran, Simona Cîntă Pînzaru","doi":"10.1039/d4en00820k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4en00820k","url":null,"abstract":"Blue plastics, whether macro- or micro-sized, are intriguingly frequently reported in significant numbers of studies dealing with the contamination of environmental waters or living organisms with microplastics. In our recent investigations on microplastics in environmental waters, we noted abundant blue microfibers and fragments, whose identification was achieved <em>via</em> Raman spectroscopy. Still widely used in the plastics industry, despite awareness raised at a global level, copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), a blue pigment carried by abundantly used blue plastics, like a “Trojan horse”, is a secondary threat (after plastics) in the trophic chain, being highly resistant to a broad range of conditions. Here, the newly discovered resonance Raman (RR) signal of the blue pigment CuPc embedded in environmentally aged plastics allowed us to lower the minimum size of detectable nanoplastics <em>via</em> micro-Raman spectroscopy down to 500 nm. In addition, we demonstrated nanoplastics detection solely <em>via</em> the CuPc RR signal, a result subsequently validated using SEM–EDX. Based on a visible-NIR Raman spectroscopy investigation of isolated synthetic CuPc compounds, we discussed the observed changes in pigment spectra in blue plastic waste aged for an estimated 20 years, consisting of highly brittle ropes knotted in fishing nets and harvested <em>via</em> scuba diving from the seabed. Thus, the fate of CuPc in environmentally aged blue plastics could provide robust analytical opportunities when studying the impact of aged, blue-coloured plastics at various levels, due to its persistent, selective and specific RR signal. The results are crucial for expanding the capability of Raman tools for further tracking the micro-to-nanoplastic degradation of waste along the trophic chain, improving our understanding of its impact on living organisms.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143486555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nanotechnology-enabled soil management for sustainable agriculture: interactions, challenges, and prospective","authors":"Mohamed El-Sayed, Haytham A. Ayoub, Mohamed Helal, Wenjing Sang, Zheng Shen, Islam Abdelnaser Abdelhafeez","doi":"10.1039/d4en00943f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4en00943f","url":null,"abstract":"Nanotechnology has a pronounced perspective to improve the quality of life through its applications in numerous fields including the agricultural sector. Recently, many applications of nanotechnology in agriculture including crop production and protection with emphasis on nano-fertilizers, nano-irrigation, and nano-enabled remediation strategies for contaminated soils. The functionalization of nanomaterials is a growing solution to solve and enhance many agriculture problems due to the unique physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials such as their higher ranking, status, and quality and benefit in different fields compared to traditional materials. Recently, numerous studies reported the quite promising effects of nanotechnologies on the agriculture sector. Here, this review aims to provide state-of-the-art sustainable nanotechnologies in soil management. The production routes and features of nanomaterials applicable in agricultural areas will be briefly described. The application of nanotechnology with soil content will be discussed in detail including interaction mechanisms, nanomaterials classification, and various implementations regarding soil remediation and fertility and nano-irrigation systems. The challenges for the application of nanotechnology in soil will be presented. Finally, the prospective trends will be suggested for maximizing nanotechnology performance and enhancing soil quality.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143477345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of Ti3C2Tx (MXene) on growth, oxidative stress, and metabolism of Microcystis aeruginosa","authors":"Qianqian Xiang, Zhihao Ju, Renhong Zhu, Minmin Niu, Yuanyuan Lin, Xuexiu Chang","doi":"10.1039/d4en01074d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4en01074d","url":null,"abstract":"The potential ecotoxicity of Ti<small>₃</small>C<small>₂</small>T<small>_<em>x</em></small> (MXene) is becoming a growing concern due to its widespread use in the field of environmental remediation. Unfortunately, little is known about the toxic effects and mechanisms of Ti<small>₃</small>C<small>₂</small>T<small>_<em>x</em></small> on aquatic phytoplankton. Herein, we investigated the influence of Ti<small>₃</small>C<small>₂</small>T<small>_<em>x</em></small> on the growth, oxidative stress, and metabolism of the phytoplankton <em>Microcystis aeruginosa</em> using conventional toxicological and metabolomics methods. Results showed that Ti<small>₃</small>C<small>₂</small>T<small>_<em>x</em></small> had a dose-dependent effect on the physiological ecology of <em>M. aeruginosa</em>. Although low Ti<small>₃</small>C<small>₂</small>T<small>_<em>x</em></small> concentrations (≤1 mg L<small>⁻¹</small>) did not significantly change the <em>M. aeruginosa</em> growth, oxidative status, and cell morphology, high concentrations (≥5 mg L<small>⁻¹</small>) substantially reduced its proliferation and photosynthetic capacity. The metabolomics results showed that low (1 mg L<small>⁻¹</small>) and high (5 mg L<small>⁻¹</small>) Ti<small>₃</small>C<small>₂</small>T<small>_<em>x</em></small> concentrations induced the expression of 43 and 128 differential metabolites in <em>M. aeruginosa</em>, respectively, which were mainly enriched in the amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism pathways. These results suggest that Ti<small>₃</small>C<small>₂</small>T<small>_<em>x</em></small> resulted in metabolic disorders in <em>M. aeruginosa</em>, such as porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism, thereby inhibiting the photosynthetic activity of <em>M. aeruginosa</em> and ultimately leading to a decrease in algal growth. This study provides new insights into the toxicity mechanism of Ti<small>₃</small>C<small>₂</small>T<small>_<em>x</em></small> against <em>M. aeruginosa</em>, which helps us understand the potential risks of Ti<small>₃</small>C<small>₂</small>T<small>_<em>x</em></small> in the aquatic environment.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143452062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cr(III)-incorporated Fe(III) hydroxides for enhanced redox conversion of As(III) and Cr(VI) in acidic solution","authors":"Juanjuan Liu, Xubo Gao, Chong Dai, Suona Zhang, Shuqiong Kong, Lin Wang, Yandi Hu","doi":"10.1039/d4en01068j","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4en01068j","url":null,"abstract":"Impurity-containing iron hydroxides, abundant in many natural and engineered soil and aqueous environments, control the fate and transport of multiple aqueous contaminants. Fe(<small>III</small>) hydroxide was reported to simultaneously detoxicate As(<small>III</small>) and Cr(<small>VI</small>). However, the mechanisms and reaction intermediates are not clear, and the effects of impurities in ferrihydrite were far from being well understood. Here, Cr(<small>III</small>)-incorporated Fe(<small>III</small>) hydroxides were precipitated from acidic solutions (pH ∼ 3.0) with varied Fe(<small>III</small>)/Cr(<small>III</small>) molar ratios (10 : 0 to 8 : 2) for simultaneous removal of As(<small>III</small>) and Cr(<small>VI</small>). Multiple characterization techniques were combined to investigate the effects of Cr-incorporation on the size, band gap, adsorption, and catalytic efficiency of Fe hydroxides. With the amounts of Cr-incorporation increasing, the particle size of Fe hydroxides rapidly decreased (from 16.7 to 6.0 nm), and the removal of total As/Cr increased, as the Cr-incorporated Fe hydroxides with smaller size had larger surface area, promoting As/Cr removal by adsorption. Based on As/Cr speciation analysis of both aqueous and solid phases, the molar ratios of the oxidized As(<small>III</small>) (88%) to reduced Cr(<small>VI</small>) (∼56%) were calculated to be ∼1.5, indicating that the coupled redox conversion was the dominant removal mechanism over As(<small>III</small>)/Cr(<small>VI</small>) adsorption and As(<small>III</small>) oxidation. Intermediate characterization and molecular simulation found that Cr-incorporation promoted the early formation of H<small>₂</small>O<small>₂</small> and Cr(<small>V</small>) intermediates, and enhanced the adsorption of reaction intermediates on Cr-incorporated Fe hydroxides, thus promoting their catalytic efficiency for coupled As(<small>III</small>)/Cr(<small>VI</small>) redox reactions.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143452063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Recovery of Co(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) using magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) at circumneutral pH","authors":"Katie O'Neill, Jagannath Biswakarma, Richard Crane, James M. Byrne","doi":"10.1039/d4en01176g","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4en01176g","url":null,"abstract":"Growing demand for metals, particularly those with irreplaceable utility within renewable energy technology dictates an urgent demand for the development of new innovative approaches for their extraction from primary and secondary sources. In this study, magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) were investigated for their ability to remove cobalt (Co2+), nickel (Ni2+), and zinc (Zn2+) ions from neutral pH aqueous solutions under anoxic conditions. A MNP suspension (1 g L-1 or 5 g L-1) was exposed to varying concentrations of Co(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) (50 – 1000 mg L-1) in both single and mixed systems for 48 hours at pH 7.0 ± 0.1. Results show that MNPs can remove these ions to low concentrations (Kd values: Zn: 0.07 L g-1; Co: 0.02 L g-1; and Ni: 0.01 L g-1 in single metal systems). Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis confirmed relatively homogenous surface coverage of MNPs by each metal, while X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) measurements determined sorption via the formation of coordinate bonds between the sorbed metals and surface oxygen atoms (Fe-O). Overall, our results show that MNPs can serve as an effective and reusable sorbent for Zn, Ni and Co ions from circumneutral pH waters.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143443766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chemical heterogeneity observed in the development of photo-oxidized PET micro- and nanoparticle weathered controls","authors":"John Pettibone, Song Syun Jhang, Eric Windsor, Tae Joon Cho, Thomas P Forbes, Ying Tung Kuo, Li-piin Sung, Justin Gorham","doi":"10.1039/d4en00841c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4en00841c","url":null,"abstract":"Determining unknown secondary micro and nanoplastic (MNP) composition remains a persistent analytical challenge for field collected samples. The availability of material standards should accelerate method development for improved identification. Here, ultraviolet irradiated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films and particles were used as models for investigating the production of weathered control materials. We investigated the weathered products’ chemical signatures, their stability during sampling and examination, and reproducible production of the chemical distributions using commonly reported analytical approaches for small plastic particles. We found that both conditions during irradiation and the processing procedure used for MNP production significantly contribute to changes in product distribution and the persistence of the oxidized products within the particles. Measurements were also conducted directly on MNP powders after UV-exposure to minimize any possible perturbations in product distribution from sample handling and processing. Using the model PET system, differences in sensitivity for commonly used techniques and methods were compared and discussion on relative performance for detection sensitivity was provided. Together, these findings revealed unreported pitfalls affecting accurate identification of chemically modified MNP materials.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143452064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Emerging investigator series: quantitative insights into the relationship between the concentrations and SERS intensities of neonicotinoids in water","authors":"Shengdong Liu, James Lazarcik, Haoran Wei","doi":"10.1039/d5en90005k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5en90005k","url":null,"abstract":"Correction for ‘Emerging investigator series: quantitative insights into the relationship between the concentrations and SERS intensities of neonicotinoids in water’ by Shengdong Liu <em>et al.</em>, <em>Environ. Sci.: Nano</em>, 2024, <strong>11</strong>, 3294–3300, https://doi.org/10.1039/D4EN00221K.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143443445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In Situ Raman Studying the Microstructure and Function of FeIV Species in Advanced Oxidation Process","authors":"Chunwan Wang, Shiwei Li, Yun Zhang, Xiaoling Zhang, Wei Ran, Rui Liu","doi":"10.1039/d4en01066c","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d4en01066c","url":null,"abstract":"Due to the efficient and stable pollutant degradation properties, Fe<small>^Ⅳ</small> species from Fe-based single-atom catalysts (Fe-SACs) have garnered significant interest in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). However, the microstructure and function of Fe<small>^Ⅳ</small> species in these processes remain contentious. In this study, we developed Au@SiO<small>₂</small>@Fe-SACs and utilized a combination of in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, theoretical calculations, and synchrotron radiation techniques to elucidate the structure and functional mechanisms of Fe<small>^Ⅳ</small> species during AOPs. Our findings demonstrated that Fe-SACs with a Fe<small>^Ⅱ</small>N<small>₄</small> structure were loaded on Au@SiO<small>₂</small> to obtain Au@SiO<small>₂</small>@Fe-SACs. During PMS oxidation, a Raman peak associated with the Fe-O bonds appeared at 837 cm<small>^-1</small> along with blue-shifts of Fe-N bonds from 183 cm<small>^-1</small> and 322 cm<small>^-1</small>to 191 cm<small>^-1</small> and 335 cm<small>^-1</small>, proving the generation of Fe<small>^Ⅳ</small> species. Specifically, the elongation of the Fe-O bond displaced the Fe atom from the NC plane, resulting in an extension of the Fe-N bond length from 1.88 Å to 1.93 Å. Furthermore, the FeⅣ species directly oxidized typical pollutant phenol through a direct oxidation transformation pathway (DOTP) within a wide pH range of 3 to 9. They exhibited a significant increase in removal efficiency of phenol than the hydroxyl radicals (·OH) from activated H<small>₂</small>O<small>₂</small> and effective reduction of total organic carbon (TOC). This study offers critical insights into the structural and functional attributes of FeⅣ species, providing valuable guidance for the design of more efficient Fe-SACs in AOPs.","PeriodicalId":73,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science: Nano","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.131,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143435297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}