Micro and nanoplastics (MNP) pollution has become an increasingly concerning environmental issue. Wastewater treatment plants represent a significant source of MNP pollution, as the treatments involved do not completely remove them. Studies on their removal from water and wastewater are of current interest. However, suitable reference materials are necessary to conduct these studies accurately and to calibrate and validate analytical techniques capable of determining their concentration in water and wastewater. This work provides new insights into developing such materials. By a simple, straightforward, and cost-effective method, we produced MNP of target commodity polymers: polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in sizes ranging from 20 to 3500 nm through non-solvent precipitation. The MNP obtained were aged by exposure to UV/O₃ to simulate natural plastic weathering. We assessed the dispersibility of the particles in various media and conducted a series of coagulation/flocculation tests using both aged and non-aged particles in different aqueous media. The results of these tests suggest that an eco-corona was formed, which strongly influences the colloidal behavior of MNP. The MNP obtained in this work proved to be suitable for assessing MNP removal efficiency in coagulation/flocculation processes, provided that an adequate medium with a chemical composition resembling that of wastewater is used. This research not only contributes to the development of representative reference materials but also provides new insights into the colloidal behavior of MNP in wastewater, which could help optimize removal efficiencies in wastewater treatment processes.

中文翻译：

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开发与环境相关的微塑料和纳米塑料，以评估废水处理过程中的去除效率


微塑料和纳米塑料 （MNP） 污染已成为一个日益令人担忧的环境问题。污水处理厂是 MNP 污染的重要来源，因为所涉及的处理并不能完全去除它们。目前对从水和废水中去除它们的研究很感兴趣。然而，需要合适的参考物质来准确进行这些研究，并校准和验证能够确定其在水和废水中浓度的分析技术。这项工作为开发此类材料提供了新的见解。通过一种简单、直接且经济高效的方法，我们通过非溶剂沉淀生产了目标商品聚合物的 MNP：聚乙烯 （PE）、聚丙烯 （PP）、聚苯乙烯 （PS）、聚氯乙烯 （PVC） 和聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯 （PET），尺寸范围为 20 至 3500 nm。获得的 MNP 通过暴露于 UV/O₃ 进行老化，以模拟自然塑料风化。我们评估了颗粒在各种介质中的分散性，并使用老化和未老化的颗粒在不同水性介质中进行了一系列凝结/絮凝测试。这些测试的结果表明，形成了生态电晕，这强烈影响了 MNP 的胶体行为。事实证明，在这项工作中获得的 MNP 适用于评估混凝/絮凝过程中的 MNP 去除效率，前提是使用化学成分类似于废水的适当介质。这项研究不仅有助于开发具有代表性的参考物质，还为 MNP 在废水中的胶体行为提供了新的见解，这可能有助于优化废水处理过程中的去除效率。