Skoog Open Marine Proactive Flocculant (SOMPF) is a materials science system designed to transform the physical behaviour of microplastics in marine environments. Through surface-anchored amphiphilic block copolymers, treated plastic is programmed to undergo an ionic strength-dependent response in seawater — causing microscopic fragments to aggregate into macroscopic clusters.

This reduces the bioavailability of the microplastics by maximising the probability of immediate aggregation at the moment of fragmentation. The system is designed to be fully additive to existing plastic materials without affecting their mechanical properties during primary use.

The microplastic crisis is fundamentally a problem of fragmentation and dispersal. Every piece of plastic will eventually break down into progressively smaller fragments. Once these reach microscopic sizes, they can be absorbed directly into the cells of living organisms through endocytosis — penetrating cell membranes and migrating into the tissue of marine organisms and, through the food chain, into humans.

Existing technologies attempt to collect plastic already dispersed across vast ocean areas. SOMPF addresses the root cause differently: it is applied during manufacturing, so that if material ever reaches the marine environment, it self-aggregates at the point of origin before it can scatter into the open water column.

The system is based on amphiphilic block copolymers consisting of two functional segments:

• Hydrophobic segments: Anchor the polymer chain permanently into the plastic surface
• Hydrophilic charged segments: Respond to the ionic environment of the surrounding water

Aggregation is driven by a combination of two physical principles:

• DLVO interaction: Upon entry into seawater, charge screening occurs — the electrostatic double layer is compressed, causing attractive van der Waals forces to overcome the electrostatic repulsion between particles
• Non-DLVO interaction (Polymer bridging): Direct physical entanglement of polymer chains between particles, which further stabilises the aggregates

The ionic trigger requires the specific salt-ion concentration found in seawater or brackish water. The system is therefore entirely passive in all freshwater environments — it does not react in household use, washing machines, dishwashers, drinking water systems, or urban wastewater treatment plants.

The activation is selective by design: it is governed by ionic strength, meaning the system remains inert throughout the product’s normal life cycle and only responds upon entering a marine or brackish water environment.

SOMPF is applied via an industrial spray tunnel with electrostatic charging, immediately after the moulding process (extrusion or casting).

• Thermal activation: Controlled diffusion into the surface is enabled by the residual heat of the manufacturing process, typically 60–120 °C
• Exposure time: 3–10 seconds creates a functional surface zone of 1–10 µm depth
• Durability: The surface zone is long-term integrated and resistant to mechanical abrasion throughout the product’s life cycle

The method does not alter the plastic’s chemical composition — only its surface behaviour is modified.

The efficiency of SOMPF is based on the reaction being initiated where the particle concentration is at its highest.

Upon mechanical fragmentation of SOMPF-treated material, new functional surface is exposed simultaneously as the fragments are at their maximum local concentration. This maximises the probability of immediate polymer bridging and hetero-aggregation. The system thus reduces the initial dispersal at the point of origin, rather than seeking dispersed particles in the open water column.

The modified surface energy of SOMPF-treated plastic accelerates the colonisation of biofilm. Bacteria produce Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) — a biological glue that stabilises and reinforces the aggregates.

Studies show that this type of biofilm formation plays a central role in particle aggregation in marine systems, by permanently binding plastic fragments to marine snow — the naturally occurring organic particles continually present in the water column. This biological mechanism supplements the purely physical aggregation process.

Through induced aggregation, SOMPF achieves a measurable reduction in the bioavailability of plastic. By aggregating fragments into sizes >50 µm, the probability of endocytosis (cellular uptake) is sharply reduced. The particles become too large to penetrate cell membranes and migrate into the tissue of marine organisms.

This is the core risk-reduction mechanism: the system does not eliminate the plastic, but transforms it from biologically dangerous microscopic particles into biologically inert macroscopic clusters.

After aggregation, the physical fate of the cluster is governed by its total density. The technical report identifies two outcomes, both of which simplify mechanical separation and reduce residence time in the biologically active zone:

In environments such as the Baltic Sea (ionic strength ~0.1–0.15 M), the system is in a kinetic transition phase. Aggregation is initiated, but the process requires optimised charge density to maintain high responsiveness at lower salinities.

The system’s validation methodology specifically includes ionic strength optimisation for the 0.1–0.3 M interval, corresponding to brackish water environments.

No. The SOMPF treatment is applied exclusively to the surface at a depth of 1–10 µm. The bulk material properties — tensile strength, flexibility, chemical resistance — are entirely unaffected during primary use.

The surface zone is also resistant to mechanical abrasion throughout the product’s life cycle, meaning normal use does not degrade the functional coating before it reaches the marine environment.

The technical report specifies the following limitations clearly:

• Hydrodynamic dependency: Aggregation requires kinetic energy (turbulence) to initiate collisions between particles or interaction with existing organic material in the water mass. In low-turbulence environments, aggregation rates may be reduced
• Brackish water transition: Lower ionic strength increases the time required to form final macroscopic clusters, requiring optimised copolymer charge density
• Manufacturing integration required: The system must be applied during production. It cannot be retrofitted to plastic already in circulation
• Prevention, not cleanup: SOMPF is a proactive source-point system. It does not address plastic already dispersed in the ocean — it prevents new plastic from becoming a biological risk

SOMPF is published as an open technical solution for global implementation and optimisation under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0):

✅ Free to use, implement, and distribute
✅ Free to adapt and further develop
✅ Free for commercial use
✅ Free for academic research and independent validation

SOMPF is one component of Skoog Open Marine Technology (SOMT) — an open-source portfolio of innovations addressing interconnected marine and humanitarian crises:

All innovations are published as open-source systems under CC BY 4.0.

• Zenodo (DOI — academic publication): https://zenodo.org/records/20005019
• Website: www.skoogmarine.com
• Technical Report (PDF): Available for download via the Zenodo publication above

The system is published as is under CC BY 4.0. Any implementation requires independent engineering validation and compliance with local environmental and regulatory laws in the respective country.