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Microplastic Waste to Functional Carbon Materials
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This review summarizes existing research on turning microplastic waste into useful carbon materials, using methods like heating, microwaving, and plasma processing. These carbon materials could be used for water cleanup, CO2 capture, and chemical treatment, though challenges like energy use and contamination remain.
Microplastic pollution is a persistent environmental challenge due to the widespread distribution, chemical stability, and continuous generation of polymeric particles smaller than 5 mm.Instead of relying only on separation, filtration, or destruction, microplastics can be considered carbon-rich secondary feedstocks for producing functional carbon materials, linking plastic-waste management with green chemistry and circular-economy principles.Technologies such as pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonization, catalytic carbonization, microwave processing, flash Joule heating, and plasma conversion can transform polymeric waste into porous carbons, activated carbons, graphene-like materials, carbon nanotubes, and carbon dots for applications in adsorption, photocatalysis, advanced oxidation, CO₂ capture, and electrochemical treatment.However, feedstock heterogeneity, additives, halogen-containing polymers, energy demand, chemical activation, contaminant transfer, and material safety remain important challenges.This review critically examines microplastic-to-carbon conversion, polymer-carbon property relationships, environmental applications, regeneration, end-of-life management, and life-cycle assessment.A future framework integrating selective recovery, low-energy conversion, safer activation, multifunctional remediation, AI-assisted materials design, and circular life-cycle assessment is proposed to shift microplastic management from a linear "capture-and-dispose" model toward a circular "recover-convert-remediate-regenerate" strategy.
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