Papers

61,005 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

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 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

Mechanisms and the Engineering Approaches for the Degradation of Microplastics

This review provided a comprehensive overview of current microplastic degradation methods, including mechanical, chemical, photocatalytic, and biological approaches, evaluating engineering strategies for efficient microplastic treatment and removal.

2021 ACS ES&T Engineering 172 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

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
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 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

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 Degradation and Remediation of Microplastics

This review chapter examines photocatalysis as a remediation strategy for microplastic pollution in aquatic and terrestrial environments, describing how solar energy conversion drives chemical reactions that degrade plastic particles. The authors assess the current state of photocatalytic methods, their mechanisms, and their potential for sustainable microplastic removal.

2024 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

Removal of nanoplastics in water treatment processes: A review

This review examines technologies for removing nanoplastics from water, noting that conventional treatment processes effective for larger plastics often fail to capture these tiny particles. Researchers evaluated emerging methods including microbial degradation, membrane filtration, and photocatalysis, finding that combined approaches offer the best removal rates. The study highlights that more research is needed to develop practical, large-scale solutions for nanoplastic contamination in drinking water and wastewater.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 146 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancing photocatalytic strategies for microplastic degradation in aquatic systems: Insights into key challenges and future pathways

This review examines how light-activated chemical reactions (photocatalysis) can break down microplastics in water, using advanced materials like doped semiconductors and metal-organic frameworks. While promising for cleaning up waterways, challenges remain around scaling these methods for real-world use and ensuring the breakdown products are not themselves harmful.

2025 Journal of environmental chemical engineering 29 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
Article Tier 2

Photocatalytic and Enzymatic Degradation of Microplastics: Current Status, Comparison, and Combination

This review compares photocatalytic and enzymatic approaches for degrading microplastics, finding that photocatalysis offers high efficiency but risks secondary pollution, while enzymatic degradation is milder but slower, and proposes combined strategies as a promising direction.

2025 Catalysts
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

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

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

Microplastics and nanoplastics: Recent literature studies and patents on their removal from aqueous environment

This review surveyed recent research and 42 international patents on technologies for removing microplastics and nanoplastics from water, categorizing methods into filtration, capture-based, and degradation approaches. Removal efficiencies between 58% and 100% were reported across techniques including coagulation, membrane filtration, photocatalytic degradation, and microbial breakdown. The study highlights that while promising methods exist, each has limitations depending on factors like plastic type, water chemistry, and particle size.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 120 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

Microplastics remediation in aqueous systems: Strategies and technologies

This review assessed strategies and technologies for removing microplastics from aquatic environments, comparing coagulation-flocculation, membrane filtration, magnetic separation, photocatalysis, and biological degradation approaches in terms of efficiency, scalability, and cost for both wastewater and natural water treatment.

2021 Water Research 187 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Systematic Review of Degradation Processes for Microplastics: Progress and Prospects

This systematic review summarizes existing research on different methods for breaking down microplastics, including photodegradation, chemical oxidation, and biological approaches. The study evaluates how effective each technique is at destroying microplastics and discusses which methods show the most promise for real-world application. Finding effective ways to degrade microplastics is critical because these particles persist in the environment for hundreds of years and continue to enter our food and water.

2023 Sustainability 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic pollution and degradation pathways: A review on the treatment technologies

This review surveys different methods for breaking down plastic pollution in water, including ultraviolet light, mechanical processes, and microbial degradation. The study suggests that microorganisms and microalgae can work together in fuel cell systems to both decompose microplastics and generate clean energy, offering a promising approach to tackling plastic waste.

2024 Heliyon 25 citations