Sediment organic carbon dominates the heteroaggregation of suspended sediment and nanoplastics in natural and surfactant-polluted aquatic environments

Abstract

The aggregation of nanoplastics (NPs) and suspended sediment (SPS) is the key to the transport and environmental fate of NPs. However, the influence of SPS composition and environmental conditions on this process and its mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, the heteroaggregation of NPs and SPS of different compositions is systematically explored under natural and surfactant-polluted aquatic environments (NaCl, humic acid, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)). The results showed that sediment organic carbon (SOC) dominates the aggregation and that different kinds of SOC (comprised of both amorphous organic carbon (AOC) and black carbon (BC)) contribute vary under distinct conditions. In natural freshwater, AOC represents a larger contribution to aggregation because of its weaker electrostatic repulsion compared to that of BC. However, BC represents a larger contribution in natural seawater resulting from decreased electrostatic repulsion and more hydrogen bonding. Conversely, in surfactant-polluted aquatic environments, both AOC and BC have a high contribution owing to the bridge effect plus hydrogen bonding. Notably, minerals’ contribution in aggregates remains low under all conditions. Furthermore, CTAB typically inhibits aggregation except under special conditions. The findings of this study contribute notably to a better understanding of the migration of nanoplastics in complex aquatic environments.