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Exploring the Role of Advanced Oxidation Processes in Microplastics Research: A Systematic Literature Review
Summary
This review of 84 studies found that certain chemical treatments can break down microplastics (tiny plastic particles) in the environment, but these plastics are surprisingly tough to destroy completely. The research shows that while some treatments can change how microplastics look and behave, fully eliminating them requires much stronger methods that aren't widely available yet. This matters because microplastics are found everywhere—from our drinking water to our food—and understanding how to remove or break them down could help reduce our exposure to these potentially harmful particles.
Abstract A wide range of studies aims to detect or understand microplastics (MPs) behavior in environmental samples and experimental protocols. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are a promising tool for MPs research, applicable in aging, degradation, digestion, adsorption, and desorption. Therefore, the objective of this review is to identify the main applications of AOPs and the findings from MPs studies. The systematic literature review was conducted utilizing the Web of Science platform. Keywords connected by Boolean operators “AND’, “OR”, and “NOR” were selected to recover the largest number of articles possible across various matrices. The research culminated in 388 articles from 1990 to November 2nd, 2025, which were explored in the Web Rayyan for data management and evaluation. After thorough analysis, 84 articles were deemed eligible for inclusion in the final review, meeting all established inclusion criteria and without grounds for exclusion. Fenton agents, H 2 O 2 , and their combinations were predominant in research on MPs aging, degradation, and digestion. Persulfate was the most effective oxidizing agent for aging, rapidly causing morphological and chemical modifications. On the other hand, AOPs for the elimination of MPs require more robust technologies to enhance the efficiency of these processes, due to MPs resistance to degradation. In digestion, NaClO was more effective and less damaging to MPs, and recovery after digestion with various oxidants revealed challenges with PVC and PET due to matrix degradation, resulting in low recovery rates. AOPs can increase the adsorption capacity of MPs, which depends on surface area and the number of functional groups.
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