Degradation of Micro- and Nano-Plastics by Photocatalytic Methods

Bratovcic A

doi:10.18875/2577-7920.3.304

Abstract

Degradation of Micro- and Nano-Plastics by Photocatalytic Methods

Highlights

Synthetic plastic production is one of the fastest growing fields of global industry
Micro- and nanoplastics are ubiquitous in the environment
The ways that micro- and nanoplastics interact with the environment cannot be predicted from the behaviour of macroplastics

Summary

Introduction

Synthetic plastic production is one of the fastest growing fields of global industry. Sediment-bound plastics may take years or even decades to make their way into the oceans, by which time their interactions with biological materials including different types of microbial biofilms may change their properties and behaviour, contaminants may have absorbed on their surfaces and they may have cause long-term exposures to vulnerable organisms [12]. MPs have trigger increasing concern as they pose threats to aquatic species as well as human beings They do contribute to accumulation of plastics in the environment, but due to absorption they can contribute to spreading of micropollutants in the environment [14]. At the micro- and nanoscales, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene (PE) were observed They observed changes in the pyrolytic signals of polyethylene with decreasing debris size, which could be related to the structural modification of this plastic as a consequence of weathering. The main subject of this review is to describe the polymers degradation by photocatalytic methods, their advantages and disadvantages compared to other methods

Methods of degradation

Findings

Conclusions