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Sustainable Treatment of Plastic Wastes with Photocatalytic Technologies: A Review
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Researchers review photocatalytic technologies as a sustainable approach to plastic waste management, examining how light-driven reactions can break down plastics or convert them into valuable chemicals and clean energy, offering a dual benefit of environmental remediation and resource recovery.
Plastic waste pollution has been widely recognized as one of the most severe and pressing environmental challenges of our time, posing significant threats to ecosystem stability and human health. The transformation of plastic waste into high-value chemicals and clean energy via photocatalytic reforming technology is increasingly regarded as a promising and sustainable alternative pathway, offering dual benefits of resource recovery and environmental remediation. This review first provides an overview of the current state of research on plastic waste management. It then systematically summarizes recent representative advances in the coupling of plastic upcycling with photocatalytic technologies, with a particular focus on the potential of plastics as carbon sources in both photodegradation and photosynthetic transformation pathways, highlighting their value and future prospects. Finally, this review outlines the key scientific challenges that urgently need to be addressed in the field of photocatalytic conversion of plastic waste, and, in light of emerging research trends, proposes several promising directions for future investigation along with the authors’ perspectives. It is hoped that these insights will provide useful guidance and inspiration for the continued advancement of this field.
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Researchers review how renewable energy-driven technologies — photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and their combination — can convert waste plastics into valuable chemicals and fuels, offering a pathway to transform the plastic economy from a linear to a circular model.
Photocatalytic Upcycling of Different Types of Plastic Wastes: A Mini Review
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This mini-review covers recent advances in photocatalytic upcycling of diverse plastic types—including polyolefins, polyesters, and other common polymers—using light-driven chemical reactions that convert plastic waste into value-added chemicals or fuels. The authors summarize the fundamental principles of photocatalytic plastic deconstruction and identify key challenges in achieving scalable, efficient, and selective plastic conversion processes.
Plastic Waste as a Challenge Cannot Be Ignored: Characteristics, Sources, Impacts, and Unveiling Potential Solutions through Photocatalysis for Environmental Sustainability
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This review examines the sources, characteristics, and environmental impacts of plastic waste, including how plastics degrade into micro- and nano-sized particles that spread through air, water, and soil. Researchers highlight photocatalysis as a promising green technology for breaking down plastic waste and potentially converting it into useful products. The study emphasizes that plastic pollution threatens both ecosystems and human health through food chain contamination and direct chemical exposure.
Photocatalytic Upcycling of Plastic Waste: Mechanism, Integrating Modus, and Selectivity
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This review examines how photocatalysis, a process that uses light energy to drive chemical reactions, can transform plastic waste into useful products under mild and environmentally friendly conditions. Researchers compared photocatalytic approaches with other methods like heat-based and electrical catalysis, and explored how different experimental setups influence what end products are created. The study suggests that photocatalytic upcycling of plastics is a promising green technology, though challenges remain in improving efficiency and selectivity.
Photocatalytic Upcycling of Plastic Waste Into Value‐Added Chemicals
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This review examines photocatalytic conversion of plastic waste into value-added chemicals using solar energy, comparing it to traditional methods like landfill, incineration, and thermocatalysis. Researchers analyzed how pretreatment procedures and photocatalyst selection affect solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency, proposing it as a sustainable strategy for addressing plastic waste under mild conditions.
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