Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Recent Advances in Microplastics Removal from Water with Special Attention Given to Photocatalytic Degradation: Review of Scientific Research

This review examines methods for removing microplastics from water, with a focus on photocatalytic degradation, which uses light-activated materials to break down plastic particles. These advanced processes generate reactive molecules that can fragment microplastics into harmless byproducts. While promising, the technology still needs optimization and more research into potential harmful byproducts before it can be widely deployed.

2023 Microplastics 87 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

Photocatalytic Technologies for Transformation and Degradation of Microplastics in the Environment: Current Achievements and Future Prospects

This review examines photocatalytic technologies that use light-activated materials to break down microplastics in the environment. Various catalysts can generate reactive oxygen species that degrade plastic polymers into simpler, less harmful molecules. The authors assess the strengths and limitations of different photocatalytic approaches and highlight the need for scalable solutions that work under real-world environmental conditions.

2023 Catalysts 51 citations
Article Tier 2

Application of metal-organic frameworks for photocatalytic degradation of microplastics: Design, challenges, and scope

This review examines how metal-organic frameworks can be designed and applied for photocatalytic degradation of microplastics in wastewater, addressing the challenge of microplastic hydrophobicity and their resistance to conventional treatment. The authors discuss design strategies, current performance limitations, and future directions for scaling photocatalytic MOF technology to practical remediation applications.

2024 Chemosphere 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Photocatalytic strategy to mitigate microplastic pollution in aquatic environments: Promising catalysts, efficiencies, mechanisms, and ecological risks

This review summarizes recent advances in photocatalytic degradation of microplastics, covering catalysts, mechanisms, and reactive oxygen species generation pathways. The authors call for more realistic photocatalytic materials, better mechanistic understanding of degradation intermediates, and quantitative ecological risk assessment of photocatalysis byproducts.

2022 Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent Advances in Photocatalytic Removal of Microplastics: Mechanisms, Kinetic Degradation, and Reactor Design

This review examines how photocatalytic processes, which use light-activated materials to generate reactive molecules, can be used to break down microplastics in water. Researchers surveyed the mechanisms behind photocatalytic degradation of common plastics like polyethylene and polystyrene, as well as reactor designs that could make the technology practical. The study highlights photocatalysis as a promising approach for tackling microplastic pollution but notes that scaling up these systems remains a major challenge.

2022 Frontiers in Marine Science 89 citations
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

Countering microplastics pollution with photocatalysis: Challenge and prospects

This review summarized the use of photocatalysis for degrading microplastics, covering catalyst types, reaction mechanisms, and operational parameters, and discussing challenges including the stability of highly polymerized plastics and prospects for scaling photocatalytic treatment to address environmental microplastic pollution.

2023 Progress in Natural Science Materials International 26 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Heterogeneous photocatalysis as an efficient process for degrading MPs/NPs in aqueous media: A systematic review

This systematic review summarizes research on using light-activated chemical processes to break down microplastics and nanoplastics in water. The findings suggest that photocatalysis is a promising approach for removing these tiny plastic particles from drinking water and wastewater, which could help reduce human exposure to microplastic contamination.

2025 Journal of environmental chemical engineering 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Metal–Organic Framework based on Functional Materials for Photocatalytic Degradation of Micro‐ and Nano‐Plastic

Researchers reviewed how metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) — highly porous crystalline materials with extremely large surface areas — can be used as light-activated catalysts to break down microplastics and nanoplastics in water, potentially converting these persistent pollutants into less harmful chemicals while generating clean energy as a byproduct.

2025
Article Tier 2

Degradation of microplastic in water by advanced oxidation processes

This review covers advanced methods for breaking down microplastics in water using powerful chemical reactions and light-activated catalysts that can degrade plastic particles into less harmful substances. Developing effective ways to destroy microplastics in water is critical for human health because conventional water treatment plants do not fully remove these particles from drinking water sources.

2024 Chemosphere 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Light-driven degradation of microplastics: Mechanisms, technologies, and future directions

This review examines photocatalytic technologies for breaking down microplastics using light-driven chemical processes. Researchers found that photocatalysts can potentially mineralize microplastics into carbon dioxide and water, with some approaches also enabling recovery of useful chemical products. The study highlights light-driven degradation as a promising direction for microplastic remediation, though challenges around efficiency and scalability remain to be addressed.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Degradation of Micro- and Nano-Plastics by Photocatalytic Methods

This paper reviews photocatalytic methods — using light-activated catalysts — as a way to break down micro- and nano-plastics in the environment. These approaches offer a promising path toward degrading persistent plastic particles that accumulate in marine and drinking water systems.

2017 Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Applications 56 citations
Article Tier 2

Photocatalytic Perception for Degradation of Macro- and Micro-plastics

This review examines photocatalytic approaches for degrading both macro- and micro-plastics, surveying semiconductor-based and other photocatalytic systems capable of breaking down persistent plastic polymers in aquatic and terrestrial environments. The paper evaluates the mechanisms, efficiency, and scalability of photocatalysis as a remediation technology alongside conventional plastic waste management strategies.

2024 ACS symposium series 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Photodegradation of microplastics through nanomaterials: Insights into photocatalysts modification and detailed mechanisms

This review explores how nanomaterial-enhanced photocatalysts can break down microplastics that conventional water treatment fails to remove. The paper details key strategies like element doping and heterojunction construction that improve degradation efficiency, and explains the underlying mechanisms involving free radical formation and singlet oxygen oxidation.

2024 Preprints.org 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in mechanistic insights into microplastics mitigation strategies via emerging advanced oxidation processes: Legislation, challenges, and future direction

This review examines advanced oxidation processes as a promising approach for breaking down microplastics in water, covering techniques like photocatalysis, electrochemical oxidation, and ozonation. Researchers analyzed how these methods break apart plastic polymer chains at the molecular level and identified key limitations that must be overcome. The study also discusses current plastic pollution legislation and emphasizes the need for stronger regulatory frameworks alongside technological solutions.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 27 citations
Article Tier 2

An insight decipher on photocatalytic degradation of microplastics: Mechanism, limitations, and future outlook

This review explains how photocatalysis -- a process that uses light to trigger chemical reactions -- can break down microplastics into harmless carbon dioxide and water. Unlike traditional removal methods that are expensive and often create secondary pollution, photocatalysis offers a more sustainable approach. While still in early stages, this technology could eventually help clean microplastic-contaminated water sources that people depend on.

2024 Environmental Research 104 citations
Article Tier 2

Photocatalysis toward Microplastics Conversion: A Critical Review

This review summarizes how photocatalysis, a process that uses sunlight and special materials to trigger chemical reactions, could potentially break down microplastics in water. While the technology is still in its early stages, it offers a promising approach to degrading the microplastics that have been detected in human blood, breast milk, and organs.

2024 ACS Catalysis 95 citations
Review Tier 2

A Review on the Use of Metal Oxide-Based Nanocomposites for the Remediation of Organics-Contaminated Water via Photocatalysis: Fundamentals, Bibliometric Study and Recent Advances

This review examines how metal oxide nanocomposite materials can be used as photocatalysts to break down toxic organic pollutants in contaminated water using light energy. While focused on cleaning up dyes, drugs, and pesticides, the technology is relevant to microplastics because similar photocatalytic approaches are being explored to degrade plastic particles in water. Improving water treatment technologies like these could help reduce human exposure to the cocktail of pollutants, including microplastics, found in water supplies.

2023 Toxics 52 citations
Article Tier 2

Catalytic approaches for the removal of microplastics from water: Recent advances and future opportunities

Researchers reviewed catalytic methods — including biological processes, advanced oxidation, and hydrolysis — for breaking down or removing microplastics from water, highlighting promising progress while noting that no single approach yet works efficiently at the scale needed for real-world water treatment.

2023 Chemical Engineering Journal Advances 59 citations