Papers

20 results
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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

Electrochemical Detection of Microplastics in Aqueous Media

Researchers demonstrated that microplastics in water can be detected electrochemically by counting oxygen reduction events when plastic particles collide with a carbon microwire electrode, finding a linear relationship between particle concentration and collision frequency.

2025 Sensors 2 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

Evaluating Microplastic Effects on Performance and Electrochemistry of Microbial Fuel Cells for Wastewater Treatment

Researchers evaluated how microplastics affect the performance of microbial fuel cells used for wastewater treatment. They found that low concentrations of microplastics actually improved chemical oxygen demand reduction and power production compared to wastewater without microplastics. However, at higher concentrations the beneficial effects diminished, suggesting that microplastic levels in wastewater could influence the efficiency of bioelectrochemical treatment systems.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Toxic and Radioactive Waste 2 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

Nanomaterial-based electrochemical chemo(bio)sensors for the detection of nanoplastic residues: trends and future prospects

This study reviews how nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors can be used to detect tiny nanoplastic residues in water. Researchers found that these sensors offer a promising, practical approach for monitoring nanoplastic contamination in aquatic ecosystems. The findings suggest that advancing these detection tools is important for implementing effective water quality control measures.

2024 RSC Sustainability 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in the detection of microplastics in the aqueous environment by electrochemical sensors: A review

This review surveys recent advances in using electrochemical sensors to detect microplastics in water environments. Researchers evaluated sensors made from carbon materials, metals, biomass materials, and microfluidic chips, comparing their detection capabilities and practical advantages like low cost and high sensitivity. The study highlights electrochemical sensing as a promising approach for real-time, on-site monitoring of microplastic contamination in waterways.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 16 citations
Article Tier 2

State of the art in the photochemical degradation of (micro)plastics: from fundamental principles to catalysts and applications

This review summarizes research on the photochemical degradation of plastics and microplastics into value-added products and intermediates via photocatalysis. The study covers fundamental principles and catalytic approaches for breaking down plastic pollutants that are otherwise difficult to degrade in the environment.

2023 Journal of Materials Chemistry A 94 citations
Article Tier 2

Revealing the role of magnetic materials in light-driven advanced oxidation processes: enhanced degradation of contaminants and facilitated magnetic recovery

This paper is not directly about microplastics — it reviews the use of magnetic semiconductor photocatalysts to improve wastewater treatment efficiency, focusing on pollutant degradation and catalyst recovery via magnetic separation, without addressing microplastic contamination.

2024 Frontiers in Chemical Engineering 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Innovations in chemical degradation technologies for the removal of micro/nano-plastics in water: A comprehensive review

This review summarizes advances in chemical degradation technologies for removing micro- and nanoplastics from water, including photocatalysis, Fenton-based reactions, electrochemical oxidation, and micro/nanomotor approaches. Researchers analyzed the key factors that influence degradation effectiveness, such as particle properties and operating conditions. The study identifies current challenges and outlines future directions for developing practical chemical methods to address plastic pollution in water systems.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Research Progress on Electrochemical Oxidaiton of Aqueous Organic Pollutants Through Ti/SnO2-Sb Anodes

Despite its title referencing electrochemical oxidation of organic pollutants, this paper studies how titanium-based anodes (Ti/SnO2-Sb) can be improved for breaking down industrial dyes, pharmaceuticals, and petrochemical wastewater — not microplastic pollution. It examines electrode fabrication and modification strategies for advanced water treatment and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.

2026 Frontiers in Science and Engineering
Article Tier 2

Recent advances and challenges in advanced oxidation processes for degradation of nano- and microplastics in water: a critical review

This critical review evaluates four main advanced oxidation processes — ozonation, photocatalysis, Fenton reactions, and electrochemical oxidation — for breaking down nano- and microplastics in water, summarizing what has been achieved and where major technical gaps remain. Developing effective degradation technologies is urgently needed because conventional water treatment systems do not reliably remove small plastic particles.

2026 RSC Advances
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
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

Role of the Controlled Periodic Illumination (CPI) for Enhancing the Photonic Efficiency of a Photocatalytic System

Not relevant to microplastics — this is a photochemistry study investigating how periodically pulsed (rather than continuous) light irradiation can improve the efficiency of photocatalytic reactions at semiconductor surfaces for pollutant degradation and hydrogen production.

2024 ChemCatChem 3 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

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

Assessing the Sustainability of Photodegradation and Photocatalysis for Wastewater Reuse in an Agricultural Resilience Context

Not directly relevant to microplastics — this review evaluates photodegradation and photocatalysis technologies for purifying wastewater for agricultural reuse, without a focus on microplastic removal.

2023 Water 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Developments in advanced oxidation processes for removal of microplastics from aqueous matrices

This review evaluates advanced oxidation processes for removing microplastics from water, finding that photocatalysis, Fenton reactions, and electrochemical methods can effectively degrade microplastics into smaller molecules, offering promising alternatives to conventional non-destructive treatment approaches.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanomaterials for microplastic remediation from aquatic environment: Why nano matters?

This review examines how nanomaterials such as photocatalysts, adsorbents, and membrane filters can be used to remove microplastics from aquatic environments, highlighting why nanoscale properties offer advantages over conventional remediation approaches.

2022 Chemosphere 113 citations