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Environmental fate and toxicity of microplastic particles is dominated bytheir surface properties. In the environment an adsorbed layer of biomoleculesand natural organic matter forms the so-called eco-corona. A quantitativedescription of how this eco-corona changes the particles' colloidalinteractions is still missing. Here, we demonstrate with colloidal probe-atomicforce microscopy that the formation of the eco-corona on microplastic particlesintroduces a soft film on the surface which changes the mechanical behaviour.We measure single particle-particle interactions and find a pronounced increaseof long-range repulsive interactions upon eco-corona formation. Theseforce-distance characteristics follow well the polymer brush model by Alexanderand de Gennes. We further compare the obtained fitting parameters to knownsystems like polyelectrolyte multilayers and propose these as a model systemfor the eco-corona. The foundation of the eco-corona interacting like a polymerbrush with its surrounding may help understand microplastic transport andaggregation in the environment.

Repulsive interactions of eco-corona covered microplastic particles quantitatively follow modelling of polymer brushes