Co-transport of polystyrene microplastics and kaolinite colloids in goethite-coated quartz sand: Joint effects of heteropolymerization and surface charge modification

This study investigated the transport behavior of polystyrene microplastics (MPs) in saturated quartz sand and goethite-coated sand in the presence of coexisting kaolinite colloids. Column experiments were conducted under a wide range of solution chemistry conditions, including pH levels of 6.0, 7.0, and 9.0, as well as background Na⁺ concentrations of 5 mM and 25 mM. We found that: (1) The individual transport of MPs in porous media diminished both with increasing background ion strength and decreasing pH, and its transport ability was significantly dominated by the interactions between MPs and porous media rather than the interplay between MPs, which has been further corroborated by the aggregation stability experiments of MPs particles. (2) MPs had a much lower ability to move through goethite-coated sand columns than quartz sand columns. This is because goethite coating reduces the repulsion energy barriers between porous media and MPs. The increased specific surface area and surface complexity of sand columns after goethite coating should also account for this difference. (3) MPs transport would be subjected to the differentiated impact of co-transported kaolinite colloids in the two types of porous media. The promotion effect of kaolinite colloid on MPs' transport capacity is not significantly affected by background ionic strength changes when quartz sand is served as the porous medium; however, the promotion effect is highly correlated with the background ionic strength when goethite-coated sand is served as the porous medium. In comparison with low background ionic strength conditions, kaolinite colloids under high background ionic strength conditions significantly facilitated MPs transport. This is mainly because under high background ionic conditions, kaolinite colloids are more likely to be deposited on the surface of goethite-covered sand, competing with MPs for the limited deposition sites. The extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theory is applicable to describe the transport behavior of MPs.