Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Photoreforming of Microplastics: Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Environmental Remediation

This review explores photoreforming, a technology that uses sunlight to break down microplastics and convert them into useful chemicals like hydrogen fuel. The process could offer a sustainable way to clean up microplastic pollution while producing valuable products, though it is still in the early research stage. If scaled up, this approach could help reduce the environmental and health risks of microplastics by actually eliminating them rather than just filtering them out of water.

2024 Small 19 citations
Article Tier 2

From Plastic Waste to Green Hydrogen and Valuable Chemicals Using Sunlight and Water

This review examines how solar-powered photoreforming technology can convert plastic waste into valuable chemicals and green hydrogen using sunlight and water. Researchers found that while the approach shows significant promise as an alternative to landfilling, there is currently no standardized way to compare results across different studies. The study proposes guidelines for more consistent evaluation of photocatalyst performance to help advance this technology toward practical application.

2024 Angewandte Chemie 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Comprehensive Insights into Photoreforming of Waste Plastics for Hydrogen Production

This review examines photocatalytic "photoreforming" — a solar-powered process that breaks down waste plastics while simultaneously generating hydrogen fuel and useful chemical byproducts. Recent advances in catalyst design, including semiconductor materials and metal-organic frameworks, are analyzed alongside factors like light intensity and pH that affect hydrogen output. This dual-purpose approach could help address both the global plastic waste crisis and the need for clean energy simultaneously.

2025 Preprints.org 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Building a bridge from solid wastes to solar fuels and chemicals via artificial photosynthesis

This review examined photoreforming (PR) as a process that converts solid plastic and other waste materials into hydrogen fuel and value-added chemicals using solar energy, combining waste remediation with clean fuel production. The authors assessed photocatalyst design strategies that enable efficient PR of diverse waste streams including polyethylene and polypropylene.

2022 EcoMat 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemoenzymatic Photoreforming: A Sustainable Approach for Solar-fuel Generation from Plastic Feedstocks

Researchers developed a hybrid process combining enzyme pretreatment with solar-driven photoreforming to convert polyester plastic waste into clean hydrogen fuel and valuable chemicals under mild conditions. This approach offers a way to clean up plastic pollution while generating renewable energy simultaneously.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Crucial role of pre-treatment in plastic photoreforming for precision upcycling

Researchers reviewed how pre-treating plastic waste before photoreforming — a process that uses sunlight to convert plastic into useful chemicals — dramatically affects what products are made and how efficiently. Understanding how polymer structure and preparation influence the reaction is key to turning plastic waste into valuable resources sustainably.

2025 npj Materials Sustainability 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Systemically Understanding Aqueous Photocatalytic Upgrading of Microplastic to Fuels

This review examines photocatalytic methods for converting microplastic waste into renewable fuels using solar energy. These approaches could transform plastic pollutants into useful energy sources rather than allowing them to accumulate in the environment and food chain.

2023 Solar RRL
Article Tier 2

Photocatalytic Upcycling of Plastic Waste: Mechanism, Integrating Modus, and Selectivity

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.

2023 Small Structures 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Artificial photosynthesis bringing new vigor into plastic wastes

This review explores how artificial photosynthesis, which uses sunlight to drive chemical reactions, can convert plastic waste into valuable chemicals and fuels. The approach works under mild conditions and offers an energy-saving alternative to traditional plastic disposal methods like landfilling or incineration. While still in early stages, this technology could help address both plastic pollution and the need for sustainable carbon resources.

2023 SmartMat 58 citations
Article Tier 2

New Progress in Plastic Degradation and Conversion by Photocatalysis

This review examines advances in photocatalytic plastic degradation and conversion, covering both the plastic pollution crisis driven by microplastic formation and innovative recycling approaches including primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary methods.

2024 ACS symposium series
Article Tier 2

Photoreforming of PET and PLA microplastics for sustainable hydrogen production using TiO2 and g-C3N4 photocatalysts

Researchers used photoreforming—a light-driven process—to break down PET and PLA microplastics while simultaneously generating hydrogen gas, demonstrating a dual-benefit approach that addresses plastic pollution while producing clean energy from waste plastic.

2025 Journal of environmental chemical engineering 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Perspectives on sustainable plastic treatment: A shift from linear to circular economy

This review examines emerging technologies for converting plastic waste into useful chemicals and fuels, including methods like pyrolysis, photocatalysis, and electrocatalysis. Researchers highlight how these approaches could shift plastic management from a throw-away model to a circular economy where waste becomes a resource. The study identifies remaining knowledge gaps and proposes future research directions for sustainable plastic treatment.

2024 TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 32 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

Harvesting marine plastic pollutants-derived renewable energy: A comprehensive review on applied energy and sustainable approach.

This review summarized recent research on recovering renewable energy from marine plastic waste through biological, chemical, and thermal conversion processes, evaluating each pathway's carbon efficiency, global warming potential, and economic viability as part of a circular economy approach to plastic pollution.

2023 Journal of environmental management
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

Plastic waste management for sustainable environment: techniques and approaches

Researchers reviewed current plastic waste removal techniques — including adsorption, photocatalysis, and microbial degradation — and alternative resource recovery strategies, evaluating their efficiency, underlying mechanisms, and potential for converting plastic waste into adsorbents, fuels, or construction materials.

2023 Waste Disposal & Sustainable Energy 131 citations
Article Tier 2

Light-driven polymer recycling to monomers and small molecules

Researchers reviewed how sunlight can be harnessed to chemically break down plastic waste into reusable molecules, offering a lower-energy alternative to heat-based recycling methods like pyrolysis. While still limited to certain plastic types, light-driven recycling shows promise for converting hard-to-recycle plastics into valuable chemical building blocks.

2024 Nature Communications 76 citations
Article Tier 2

Reimagining plastics waste as energy solutions: challenges and opportunities

This review examines the potential of converting plastic waste into energy through waste-to-energy and waste-to-fuel technologies, particularly in developing nations where recycling infrastructure is limited. Researchers assessed various conversion methods including pyrolysis and gasification, evaluating their efficiency and environmental trade-offs. The study emphasizes that energy recovery from plastic waste could help address both the growing plastic pollution crisis and energy needs in underserved regions.

2024 npj Materials Sustainability 26 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

State-of-the-Art Achievements and Challenges in Photochemical Conversion of Plastics to Chemicals and Composites

This review covers photochemical methods for converting plastic waste into value-added chemicals and composite materials, examining both the chemistry of photooxidation and recent advances in converting plastic streams into useful products rather than disposing of them.

2025 Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 3 citations