Research by acclaimed Stockbridge professor Baoshan Xing and visiting scientist Fei Dang, is featured on the cover of Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
Their team's paper, "Weathered Microplastics Induce Silver Nanoparticle Formation," studies the ubiquity of microplastics found in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial systems.
THE RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES THAT THE EXPOSURE OF DISCARDED POLYSTYRENE (STYROFOAM) TO SUNLIGHT CAUSES CHEMICAL DEGRADATION OF THE PLASTICS, ALLOWING THE WEATHERED MICROPLASTICS TO CONVERT DISSOLVED SILVER INTO NANOPARTICLES, POTENTIALLY INCREASING THEIR NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT.
Their conclusions, revealing the chemical reactivity of weathered styrofoam, suggest that different pollutants in the environment have biogeochemical effects on each other.
Dr. Xing is recognized as a "Most Highly Cited Researcher". Dr. Fei Dang worked in Xing lab as a visiting scientist.
STOCKBRIDGE CONTINUES TO PRODUCE AWARD-WINNING AND CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH ACROSS THE AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES.
See the abstract and full paper at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00766