Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Leveraging Biocatalyst-H2O2-Driven Microplastic Degradation: Waterborne Microplastic Breakdown and Soil Microbial Community Shifts

Researchers developed a ferromagnetic carbonaceous biocatalyst called MacBioNic and used it with hydrogen peroxide to degrade PET microplastics in water. The study identified PET degradation intermediates confirming successful polymer breakdown, and high-throughput sequencing showed that the treatment stimulated growth of plastic-degrading microbial communities in soil, suggesting a synergistic approach combining chemical oxidation with biological degradation.

2025 ACS ES&T Engineering 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Harnessing bio and (Photo)catalysts for microplastics degradation and remediation in soil environment

This review examined biological and photocatalytic approaches for breaking down microplastics in soil, an area that has received far less attention than water-based solutions. The study highlights promising enzymes and light-activated catalysts that could degrade soil microplastics, and calls for more research using computational modeling to design better cleanup strategies for contaminated land.

2024 Journal of Environmental Management 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial strategies for effective microplastics biodegradation: Insights and innovations in environmental remediation

This review explores how bacteria and their enzymes can break down microplastics through oxidative degradation, offering a biological approach to cleaning up plastic pollution. The paper highlights innovative pretreatment methods that make plastics more accessible to microbial breakdown and positions microbial strategies as a promising frontline solution for removing microplastics from ecosystems before they can enter the food chain and affect human health.

2024 Environmental Research 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluating the effectiveness of H2O2 filter cleaning for microplastic analysis

Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide treatment at three concentrations for cleaning filters bearing dark brown tissue residues from biota microplastic analysis, testing whether H2O2 can reduce organic material sufficiently to allow accurate identification and quantification of embedded microplastic particles.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Harnessing Microorganisms for Microplastic Degradation: A Sustainable Approach to Mitigating Environmental Pollution

This review surveys microorganisms—bacteria, fungi, and other taxa—capable of degrading microplastics, examining the enzymes, metabolic pathways, and environmental conditions involved, and assessing the practical potential of harnessing these organisms for bioremediation of plastic pollution.

2025 NIPES Journal of Science and Technology Research
Article Tier 2

Role of Various Microbes and Their Enzymatic Mechanisms for Biodegradation of Microplastics

This review examines the microbial enzymes and degradation mechanisms responsible for biodegrading microplastic polymers, covering bacterial, fungal, and algal systems that have evolved plastic-degrading capabilities over the past 150 years of plastic production. The authors survey the most promising enzymatic pathways and organisms for biotechnological application in microplastic remediation.

2024
Article Tier 2

A concept for the biotechnological minimizing of emerging plastics, micro- and nano-plastics pollutants from the environment: A review.

This review examined biotechnological strategies for remediating plastics, micro-, and nano-plastics from the environment, cataloguing microbial and enzymatic degradation approaches, discussing their mechanistic basis, and proposing an integrated biotechnology framework for minimizing plastic pollution across terrestrial and aquatic systems.

2023 Environmental research
Article Tier 2

Evaluating the effectiveness of H2O2 filter cleaning for microplastic analysis

Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of three concentrations of hydrogen peroxide for cleaning filters laden with organic tissue residue after microplastic extraction from biota, aiming to improve the accuracy of identifying and quantifying microplastics embedded within difficult-to-remove organic material.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic biodegradation and environmental safety: From microbial mechanisms to engineered systems and circular bio-based implementation.

This research review summarizes what scientists know about using bacteria and enzymes to break down microplastics—tiny plastic particles smaller than 5mm that contaminate our water, soil, and air. While these biological approaches show promise for removing dangerous plastic pollution from the environment, the methods don't always work completely and may create new harmful byproducts. The findings matter because microplastics can enter our food chain and bodies, so we need safe and effective ways to remove them without creating new health risks.

2026 Ecotoxicology and environmental safety
Article Tier 2

A minireview on the bioremediative potential of microbial enzymes as solution to emerging microplastic pollution

This mini review explores the potential of microbial enzymes as a sustainable solution for degrading microplastics, discussing recent advances in identifying plastic-degrading enzymes and the challenges remaining for practical bioremediation applications.

2023 Frontiers in Microbiology 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced degradation of microplastics by laccase under ambient conditions: Analysis of underlying molecular mechanisms

This study demonstrated that the enzyme laccase can degrade three types of microplastics — polyethylene (PE), PET, and PLA — by breaking apart polymer chains and transforming surface chemical groups, with biodegradable PLA showing the highest degradation efficiency. The mechanistic insights into how reactive oxygen species and electron transfer drive enzymatic degradation provide a foundation for developing enzyme-based treatments to remove microplastics from water and soil.

2026 Journal of Hazardous Materials
Article Tier 2

Recent Advancements and Mechanism of Plastics Biodegradation Promoted by Bacteria: A Key for Sustainable Remediation for Plastic Wastes

This review highlights recent discoveries of microbial enzymes capable of degrading various plastics, discussing bacterial biodegradation mechanisms as a sustainable remediation strategy for addressing accumulating plastic waste in landfills and water bodies.

2023 Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Aquatic Plastics Waste Biodegradation Using Plastic Degrading Microbes

This review covers how microorganisms — including algae, bacteria, and fungi — produce enzymes that can break down plastic polymers through a multi-step biodegradation process. While biological plastic degradation is promising as an environmentally friendly approach, the efficiency and scalability of microbial plastic breakdown still requires significant improvement.

2021 Journal of Microbiology Biotechnology and Food Sciences 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Periphytic biofilm: An innovative approach for biodegradation of microplastics

Researchers investigated periphytic biofilm as a method for biodegrading microplastics in aquatic environments, finding that biofilm-forming microorganisms were capable of colonizing and partially degrading plastic surfaces. The approach offers a low-cost, nature-based strategy for reducing microplastic pollution in waterways.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 224 citations
Article Tier 2

Green Hydrogen Peroxide: Advances of Electrocatalytic Generation and Applications in High‐Value Chemical Conversion

This review examines advances in electrocatalytic generation of hydrogen peroxide as an environmentally friendly oxidant for green chemistry applications, including water treatment processes that can degrade microplastics and other persistent organic pollutants.

2025 ChemPlusChem 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the degradation of high-density polyethylene microplastics using microbial strains: Effect of process parameters, degradation kinetics and modeling

Researchers tested several microbial strains for their ability to break down high-density polyethylene microplastics and developed models to predict degradation rates. Certain bacteria and fungi showed measurable ability to deteriorate the plastic surface over weeks of exposure. The study contributes to the development of biological approaches for remediating microplastic pollution in the environment.

2023 Waste Management 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Evidence of Plastic Degrading Bacteria in Aquatic Environment

This review examines evidence for plastic-degrading bacteria in aquatic environments, summarizing identified microorganisms and their enzymatic mechanisms capable of breaking down plastic materials, and discussing the potential application of these organisms in bioremediation of plastic pollution.

2022 Journal of Biological and Allied Health Sciences
Review Tier 2

[Interaction between microplastics and microorganisms in soil environment: a review].

This review examines how microplastics alter soil microbial community structure and diversity, and how microorganisms in turn colonize plastic surfaces and degrade them through extracellular enzymes — with degradation efficiency dependent on polymer properties and environmental conditions.

2023 PubMed 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic accumulation in soils: Unlocking the mechanism and biodegradation pathway

Researchers reviewed how microplastics accumulate in soil and break down biologically, finding that certain microorganisms can form biofilms on plastic surfaces and use enzymes to slowly degrade the polymers — though conditions like pH, temperature, and moisture must be optimized and new plastic-degrading microbes need to be identified before this approach can be widely applied.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbe-assisted Enzymatic Degradation of Microplastic

This review examines microbially assisted enzymatic degradation of microplastics as a promising bioremediation strategy, surveying the microorganisms and extracellular enzymes capable of cleaving plastic polymer chains. The authors assess current progress, limitations, and future prospects for applying this approach to reduce microplastic accumulation in terrestrial and aquatic environments.

2024
Article Tier 2

Photocatalytic and biological technologies for elimination of microplastics in water: Current status

This review examines emerging photocatalytic and biological technologies for breaking down microplastics in water, since conventional treatment facilities can capture but not fully destroy these particles. Researchers found that while photocatalysis and microbial degradation show promise, their effectiveness varies widely and the underlying mechanisms are only partly understood. The study highlights the urgent need for more efficient solutions to eliminate rather than simply filter out microplastic pollution from water supplies.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 137 citations
Article Tier 2

Molecularly Engineered Covalent Organic Frameworks for Hydrogen Peroxide Photosynthesis

Researchers developed a covalent organic framework photocatalyst for producing hydrogen peroxide from water and air using solar energy, achieving a solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency of up to 1.08%. The resulting hydrogen peroxide solution was capable of degrading pollutants. While not directly about microplastics, this research presents a potentially useful technology for environmental remediation including pollutant degradation in water systems.

2022 Angewandte Chemie International Edition 614 citations
Article Tier 2

Photocatalytic Degradation of Microplastics in Aquatic Environments: Materials, Mechanisms, Practical Challenges, and Future Perspectives

This review examines how light-activated materials called photocatalysts can break down microplastics in water into harmless byproducts using sunlight or UV light. While still facing challenges with incomplete breakdown and variable sunlight conditions, this technology offers a promising way to reduce microplastic contamination in water sources that affect human health.

2025 Water 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Review on plastic wastes in marine environment – Biodegradation and biotechnological solutions

Researchers reviewed plastic biodegradation in the marine environment, cataloguing microbial communities that colonize plastic surfaces and the enzymes they produce, while highlighting biotechnological strategies — including enzyme engineering and biofilm optimization — as necessary complements to physical and chemical approaches for reducing micro- and nanoplastic contamination.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 390 citations