Particle dynamics of nanoplastics suspended in water with soil microparticles: insights from small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra-SANS

Astner, Anton F.; Pingali, Sai Venkatesh; O'Neill, Hugh; Evans, Barbara; Urban, Volker S.; Littrell, Kenneth; Hayes, Douglas

doi:10.1039/D4EN01199F

Title: Particle dynamics of nanoplastics suspended in water with soil microparticles: insights from small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra-SANS

Journal Article · Fri May 23 00:00:00 UTC 2025 · Environmental Science: Nano

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4EN01199F · OSTI ID:3002017

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Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra-SANS (USANS) were employed to understand the aggregation behavior and observe the size reduction for nanoplastics (NPs) formed from a biodegradable mulch film, and microparticles of vermiculite (V), an artificial soil, suspended in water in the presence of low convective shear (ex situ stirring) prior to measurements. Neutron contrast matching was employed to minimize the signal of V (by 100-fold) and thereby isolate the signal due to NPs in the neutron beam, as the contrast match point (CMP) for V (67 vol% deuteration of water) differed from that of NPs by more than 20%. The original NPs' size distribution was bimodal: <200 nm and 500–1200 nm, referred to as small and large NPs, i.e., SNPs and LNPs, respectively. In the absence of V, SNPs formed homoaggregates at higher concentrations that decreased with stirring time, while the size of LNPs remained unchanged. The presence of V at 2-fold lower concentration than NPs did not change the size of SNPs but reduced the size of LNPs by nearly 2-fold as stirring time increased. Because the size of SNPs and LNPs did not differ substantially between CMP and 100% D₂O solvents, it is evident that SNPs and LNPs are mainly composed of NPs and not V. In conclusion, the results suggest that LNPs are susceptible to size reduction through collisions with soil microparticles via convection, yielding SNPs near soil–water interfaces within vadose zones.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDA; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 3002017

Journal Information:: Environmental Science: Nano, Journal Name: Environmental Science: Nano Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 12; ISSN 2051-8153; ISSN 2051-8161

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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