Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastic detection and remediation through efficient interfacial solar evaporation for immaculate water production

Researchers developed a solar-powered water purification system that simultaneously produces clean water and removes microplastics, achieving up to 5.5 times better microplastic removal than previous methods. The system uses sunlight to evaporate water, leaving contaminants including microplastics behind. This dual-purpose technology could help address both water scarcity and microplastic pollution, ultimately reducing human exposure through drinking water.

2024 Nature Communications 92 citations
Article Tier 2

Multifunctional Nanoporous Flash Graphene Coating for Solar Evaporator with Salt Resistance, Microplastic Rejection, and All‐Day Purification

Researchers developed a solar-powered water purification system coated with a novel form of graphene that can simultaneously desalinate seawater and remove both dyes and microplastics from wastewater. Under sunlight alone the device evaporates over 3 kg of water per square meter per hour, and combining solar and electrical heating pushes that rate even higher. The ability to filter out microplastics while producing clean water in a single device could be particularly valuable in regions facing both water scarcity and plastic contamination.

2026 Advanced Engineering Materials
Article Tier 2

Desalination and Purification of Water using a Solar Powered Hydrogel Multistage

Researchers developed a solar-powered multi-stage hydrogel purification system for desalinating and purifying water in off-grid settings. Improving access to clean drinking water—particularly by removing contaminants including microplastics—is a critical global health challenge, and solar-powered systems offer sustainable solutions for underserved communities.

2021 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Dual-Functional Evaporator: Synergistic Seawater Purification via Photothermal Evaporation and Microplastic Adsorption

A novel solar-powered device tackles two pressing problems at once: freshwater scarcity and microplastic contamination in water. The evaporator uses sunlight to generate steam for desalination while a specially coated fiber layer adsorbs microplastics from the water before it evaporates — achieving 99.2% microplastic removal efficiency and a strong evaporation rate. Because the steam produced contains no microplastics, the design elegantly separates clean water production from plastic capture in a single low-energy system.

2025 ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Quick-Release Antifouling Hydrogels for Solar-Driven Water Purification

Scientists created a loofah-inspired hydrogel material that uses sunlight to purify contaminated water at a rate of about 26 kilograms per square meter per hour, enough to meet daily drinking water needs. The material resists fouling and can produce clean water from various contaminated sources including those containing microplastics and heavy metals. This solar-powered approach offers a sustainable, off-grid solution for water purification in areas lacking conventional infrastructure.

2023 ACS Central Science 33 citations
Article Tier 2

A biomass-derived, all-day-round solar evaporation platform for harvesting clean water from microplastic pollution

A three-dimensional biomass-derived photothermal platform with gradient microchannels was developed to accelerate solar-driven water evaporation and simultaneously degrade microplastics. The system achieved all-day-round evaporation by combining solar energy harvesting with photocatalytic microplastic breakdown.

2021 Journal of Materials Chemistry A 75 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent Progress on Solar‐Driven Interfacial Evaporation for Resource Recovery and Pollutant Removal

This review covers recent advances in solar-powered water purification systems that can recover resources and remove pollutants from water. While the technology is primarily designed for desalination and heavy metal removal, it has potential applications for filtering microplastics from water. These sustainable, energy-efficient systems could become an important tool for reducing microplastic contamination in drinking water supplies worldwide.

2025 Advanced Materials 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Integration of photothermal water evaporation with photocatalytic microplastics upcycling via nanofluidic thermal management

Researchers designed a nanofiber reactor that simultaneously purifies water through solar-powered evaporation and breaks down microplastics using photocatalysis. The study achieved a high evaporation rate while converting microplastic pollutants into useful chemical products, demonstrating how both processes can work together in a single device by managing heat at the nanoscale.

2024 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Advances in photothermal water evaporation: synthesis, mechanisms, and coupled techniques

This review covers advances in materials that use sunlight to purify water through evaporation, which can produce clean water from seawater, rivers, and wastewater. While not specifically about microplastics, these solar-powered water purification technologies could potentially help remove microplastics from contaminated water sources. The development of more efficient and affordable systems could be important for providing clean drinking water in areas affected by microplastic pollution.

2025 Energy Materials 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Dual-Functional Evaporator:Synergistic Seawater Purificationvia Photothermal Evaporation and Microplastic Adsorption

Researchers developed a dual-functional solar evaporator by assembling PEI-coated viscose fibers and hydrophilic cotton fabric that simultaneously achieves microplastic adsorption and seawater desalination through photothermal evaporation, overcoming the single-function limitation of traditional water treatment evaporators.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

MXene/Cuttlefish-Ink Nanoparticles Incorporated Dual-Purification Sponge for Solar-Driven Oily Wastewater and Microplastic Remediation

A composite polyurethane sponge incorporating MXene and cuttlefish-ink nanoparticles was developed for solar-driven simultaneous removal of microplastics and oily wastewater. The multifunctional, recyclable material achieved efficient purification under sunlight, addressing the co-occurring problems of microplastic and oily water pollution.

2026 Polymers 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Hydrophilicity-Enhanced NH 2 -MIL-88B(Fe) Integrated Photocatalytic Membrane Reactor for Simultaneous Rejection and Degradation of Low-Density Polyethylene in Water Matrices

Scientists developed a new water filter system that can both trap and break down tiny plastic particles (called microplastics) that contaminate our drinking water. The filter successfully removed 97% of plastic particles and broke down an additional 22% of them using light. This technology could help make our water safer to drink by removing harmful plastic pollution that poses health risks to humans.

2026 ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Article Tier 2

The power of MXene-based materials for emerging contaminant removal from water - A review

This review examines MXenes, a new class of two-dimensional materials being developed for water purification. These materials show strong potential for removing a range of pollutants from water, including microplastics, heavy metals, pharmaceutical residues, and PFAS (forever chemicals). Better water treatment technology like this could reduce human exposure to microplastics and other contaminants in drinking water.

2024 Desalination 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Engineering green MOF-based superhydrophobic sponge for efficiently synchronous removal of microplastics and pesticides from high-salinity water

Engineers developed a special sponge coated with a metal-organic framework that can simultaneously remove both microplastics and pesticides from salty water. The sponge repels water but captures plastic particles and breaks down pesticides using light-activated chemical reactions, and it can be reused multiple times. This technology could help clean up coastal and agricultural water sources where microplastics and chemical pollutants coexist, reducing human exposure through drinking water and seafood.

2023 Water Research 102 citations
Article Tier 2

The “Pudding Effect” to Promote Solar‐Driving Water Purification

This paper is not about microplastic pollution. It describes a solar-powered hydrogel system for desalinating brackish water, using a conducting polymer combined with a thermosensitive polymer to achieve high evaporation rates. While it mentions poly(styrene sodium sulfonate), the study is focused on water purification technology, not plastic contamination.

2023 Advanced Functional Materials 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyoxometalate nanocluster-infused triple IPN hydrogels for excellent microplastic removal from contaminated water: detection, photodegradation, and upcycling

Researchers developed a specialized hydrogel infused with copper-based nanoclusters to remove microplastics from contaminated water. The study found that the hydrogel could both adsorb and photodegrade microplastic particles under various conditions simulating real-world water environments. This scalable approach suggests a promising new strategy for tackling microplastic pollution in water bodies.

2024 Nanoscale 39 citations
Article Tier 2

MXene based nanoarchitectures for organic contaminants degradation under sonophotocatalytic environment: eco-friendly synthesis, catalytic attributes and recent advancements

This review covers MXene-based materials, a new class of nanocatalysts that can break down organic pollutants in water using combined sound and light energy. The technology shows promise for degrading contaminants including microplastics without creating secondary pollution. Better water treatment methods like these could help reduce human exposure to microplastics and other harmful substances in drinking water.

2025 RSC Advances 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Preparation of a novel reusable 2D-MXene with flower-like LDH composite for ultra-high adsorption of congo red and doxycycline: Stability and environmental application

Scientists created a new recyclable material combining MXene and layered double hydroxides that can remove over 98% of certain pollutants from wastewater. While this study focused on dye and antibiotic removal rather than microplastics directly, the same type of advanced filtration technology could be adapted to help remove micro- and nanoplastic contaminants from water supplies.

2025 Journal of Water Process Engineering 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Innovative prototype for the mitigation of water pollution from microplastics to safeguard the environment and health

Researchers developed an innovative prototype device for removing microplastics from water through a combination of filtration and electrocoagulation, demonstrating high MP removal efficiency from both synthetic and real water samples in controlled trials.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

COMPOSITE MEMBRANES BASED ON MXene AND NANOCELLULOSE: PROPERTIES AND WATER PURIFICATION EFFICIENCY

Researchers reviewed composite membranes based on MXene and nanocellulose for water purification, evaluating their ability to remove heavy metals, dyes, pharmaceuticals, and microplastics. The membranes demonstrated high removal efficiency across contaminant types due to their large surface area and tunable charge properties.

2025 NNC RK Bulletin
Article Tier 2

Rhus Chinensis ‐ Inspired Vertical Hierarchical Structure for Solar ‐ Driven All ‐ Weather Co ‐ Harvesting of Fresh Water, Clean Salts, and Authigenic Electricity

Researchers developed a plant-inspired device that uses solar energy to simultaneously produce fresh water, recover clean salt, and generate electricity from seawater. The system includes a built-in pollutant capture trap that removes contaminants including microplastics and persistent organic pollutants from the recovered salt. This innovative approach to resource recovery from seawater could help address water scarcity while preventing microplastic contamination in salt products.

2025 Advanced Materials 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Biobased Composite Aerogels for Efficient Flow-Through Capture of Nanoplastics via Multimodal Interfacial Interactions

Scientists created a new sponge-like filter made from natural materials that can remove nearly 100% of tiny plastic particles from water. These nanoplastics are so small they're invisible to the naked eye but pose potential health risks when they get into drinking water. The filter works efficiently with very little energy, offering a promising way to clean up water contaminated with plastic pollution.

2026 ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Article Tier 2

Enhancing nanoplastics removal and green hydrogen recovery through photovoltaic-driven hybrid electrochemical treatment of urban treated wastewater

Scientists developed a new solar-powered water treatment system that removes 92% of tiny plastic particles (nanoplastics) from wastewater while also producing clean hydrogen fuel. This is important because nanoplastics are increasingly found in our drinking water and may pose health risks, so having an effective way to remove them while creating useful energy could help protect both our health and environment. The system works like getting two benefits for the price of one – cleaner water and renewable fuel from the same process.

2026 Chemical Engineering Journal
Article Tier 2

Design of clean energy based microplastic collection device

Researchers developed a clean energy-powered microplastic collection device designed to capture plastic particles smaller than 5 mm from aquatic environments, leveraging the chemical stability and persistence of microplastics as a design challenge.

2024 Journal of Physics Conference Series