We believe these differences are caused by a slight shift in the plastic's centre of gravity due to the heterogenous growth of #biofilms

This cause the #biofouled plastics to transition from a symmetrical oscillation settling pattern to an asymmetrical one.

We show that particles with #biofilms moved further away (laterally) from their drop position, compared to their pristine equivalent

This also triggered higher oscillatory frequencies, larger amplitudes and greater Strouhal numbers

We show that #biofouling triggered plastic to exhibit more chaotic and random settling behaviours

See below in green below for a biofouled plastic plate compared to the pristine plastics in blue

Next, we track the settling of plastics in water using a 3D synchronised multi-camera set up.

This allows us to gain a full characterisation of the different settling modes and the behaviour of the settling #biofouled and #pristine plastics

🚨New publication!🚨

We show that #biofilm colonisation cause #macroplastic #pollution to exhibit more chaotic settling behaviours and slower settling velocities in #water 🌪️🥤🦠

More below👇

doi.org/10.1038/s432...