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Bionanotechnology at microplastic and nanoplastic interfaces: detection, adsorption and degradation
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Tiny plastic particles called micro- and nanoplastics are everywhere—in our water, food, and even our bodies—but they're hard to detect and even harder to clean up. This review rounds up cutting-edge tools scientists are developing to tackle the problem, including specialized sensors that can spot these plastics, magnetic and other materials that can capture them, and engineered enzymes that can break them down. While these are still developing technologies rather than ready-to-use solutions, they represent important progress toward someday detecting and removing plastic pollution before it accumulates in our environment and bodies.
Micro-nano plastics (M/NPs) are pervasive environmental pollutants whose small size, persistence, and evolving surface states complicate reliable detection and remediation. As interface-dominated contaminants, their environmental behavior is largely governed by interactions at plastic-bio-nano interfaces. In this article, we review recent advances in three interconnected aspects of M/NPs research: biomolecular recognition, nano-enabled enrichment, and catalytic degradation, with particular emphasis on the central role of interfaces. Biomolecular recognition elements, including antibodies, peptides, aptamers, and molecularly imprinted materials, enable selective identification of plastics through interfacial pattern recognition. Nanomaterials such as magnetic nanoparticles, plasmonic nanostructures, metal-organic frameworks, and carbon-based materials further facilitate selective capture and signal amplification in complex matrices. Emerging degradation strategies, including engineered enzymes, enzyme-nanomaterial hybrids, nanozymes, single-atom nanozymes, and advanced oxidation processes, rely on interface-mediated adsorption, catalytic activation, and polymer transformation. Future research should therefore focus on elucidating plastic-bio-nano interfacial mechanisms and leveraging these insights to integrate molecular recognition, nano-enabled enrichment, and catalytic transformation within multifunctional platforms.
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This research review summarizes the current methods scientists use to detect and study microplastics and nanoplastics - tiny plastic particles that can get into our environment, food, and bodies. The authors explain that identifying these extremely small plastic pieces is very challenging and requires advanced laboratory techniques to understand what types of plastics they are and how much is present. Better detection methods are important because we need to understand how much plastic pollution we're exposed to and its potential effects on human health.
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This review covers the latest methods for finding and removing microplastics from the environment, from microscope-based detection to chemical and biological cleanup approaches. Physical methods like filtration and magnetic separation can capture particles, while chemical techniques can actually break plastics down, and biological methods use living organisms to degrade them. The authors also highlight the promising possibility of converting captured microplastics into useful chemicals.
Biosensors for Micro- and Nanoplastics Detection: A Review
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This review covers new biosensor technologies being developed to detect microplastics and nanoplastics more quickly and accurately than current methods. Better detection tools are important because they could enable faster monitoring of plastic contamination in water, food, and the environment, helping researchers and regulators better protect human health.
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This review covers how nanomaterial-based technologies can be used to remove microplastics from the environment, including methods using magnetic nanoparticles, photocatalysts, and membrane filters. While current physical, chemical, and biological removal methods each have limitations, nanomaterials can enhance their effectiveness by targeting smaller plastic particles that traditional methods miss. Better removal technologies could ultimately reduce human exposure to microplastics in drinking water and food.
Integrated approaches for microplastic detection, risk assessment and sustainable biotechnological remediation
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Tiny plastic particles called microplastics are now found everywhere, from deep oceans to Antarctica, and they're linked to health problems like inflammation, breathing issues, and possibly even cancer risk. This review rounds up the latest science on detecting these particles in our bodies and environment, while highlighting promising new tools, including specially engineered microbes, that could help break down and remove microplastic pollution. The takeaway: while the health risks are real and concerning, researchers are actively developing solutions, though solving this problem will require better detection methods, waste management, and public awareness working together.
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