Plastic Degrading Nanomaterials via Photocatalysis

The decomposition of plastic material is very slow and takes several years. There are lot of conventional methods for plastic degradation which require a lot of energy and break down into different types of fragments. There are various plasticizers and other compounds that make the plastic particles more durable. The approach to using nanomaterials for plastic degradation allows for a significant reduction in time. The effective application of the photocatalytic degradation approach with UV and solar light irradiation can significantly decompose plastics. Photocatalytic degradation takes place through the reactive oxygen species generation. The present review suggests a thorough comprehension of the photocatalytic breakdown via nanomaterials such as TiO2, ZnO, and their nanocomposite as photocatalysts by determining the weight loss. These nanomaterials degrade various polymers like polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) etc. In present work demonstrates nano-enabled strategies for microplastic and nanoplastic degradation.