Nanoplastic mitigation technologies: challenges and sustainability considerations

IF 8 2区工程技术 Q1 BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-03-08 DOI:10.1016/j.coche.2025.101107

Nisha Singh , Nitin Khandelwal , Ryota Nakajima , Amina K Stoddart , Graham A Gagnon

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The rise of plastic pollution has led to widespread environmental contamination by their tiny fragments, posing alarming environmental threats and health risks. Nanoplastics, NPs (<1000 nm) are particularly concerning due to their enhanced reactivity, potential to cross biological barriers and complex interactions with environmental matrices. Laboratory studies rely heavily on synthetic polystyrene beads, despite polystyrene constituting only 4.5% of global plastic production. Real-world NPs exist as hetero-aggregates with eco-corona layers, significantly altering their reactivity and toxicity. Furthermore, NPs interact with heavy metals and organic pollutants, modifying their fate and altering transport and remediation outcomes.

This perspective discusses the limitations of current water treatment plant (WTP) processes, highlighting emerging mitigation technologies, associated challenges, and the possibility of their incorporation into existing treatment settings. Enhanced adsorption, nano-enabled membrane filtration, photocatalytic degradation, magnetic microrobots, emulsions, deep eutectic solvents, and plasma technology show initial promise but face challenges like integration in existing treatment setups, high costs, regeneration difficulties, and potential for secondary pollution. Future research should focus on adapting mitigation techniques to diverse environmental matrices and their integration into existing setups, ensuring sustainability and resource recovery while achieving complete mineralization or recovery of NPs.

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来源期刊

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGYENGINE-ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

CiteScore

12.80

自引率

3.00%

发文量

114

期刊介绍： Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering is devoted to bringing forth short and focused review articles written by experts on current advances in different areas of chemical engineering. Only invited review articles will be published. The goals of each review article in Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering are: 1. To acquaint the reader/researcher with the most important recent papers in the given topic. 2. To provide the reader with the views/opinions of the expert in each topic. The reviews are short (about 2500 words or 5-10 printed pages with figures) and serve as an invaluable source of information for researchers, teachers, professionals and students. The reviews also aim to stimulate exchange of ideas among experts. Themed sections: Each review will focus on particular aspects of one of the following themed sections of chemical engineering: 1. Nanotechnology 2. Energy and environmental engineering 3. Biotechnology and bioprocess engineering 4. Biological engineering (covering tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, drug delivery) 5. Separation engineering (covering membrane technologies, adsorbents, desalination, distillation etc.) 6. Materials engineering (covering biomaterials, inorganic especially ceramic materials, nanostructured materials). 7. Process systems engineering 8. Reaction engineering and catalysis.