Advanced nanocomposites for microplastic remediation: a critical review of materials, mechanisms, and scalability challenges

Abstract

Microplastic pollution has become a widespread environmental problem, driving the need for remediation strategies that are not only effective but also sustainable. For this, advanced nanocomposites offer a transformative substitute through their customizable functionality and high surface reactivity. This review offers a critical and narrative assessment of recent advances in nanocomposite-based microplastic remediation, with a focus on materials like magnetic, carbon-based, polymeric, and photocatalytic, etc. Although reported removal efficiencies vary widely, ranging from roughly ∼73% to as high as ∼99.96%. Specifically, these statistical values are derived from the fundamentally different metrics, such as mass loss, surface degradation, particle reduction, and total organic carbon (TOC) removal. Because these are not directly comparable, they may complicate any honest evaluation of true performance and lead to an overestimation of the material efficiency. By systematically examining structure and property relationships, this review highlights how the material parameters, such as surface area, density of functional groups, band gap, and heterojunction formation, govern adsorption capacity and dictate degradation pathways. It also identifies major limitations in current research, including the absence of standardized testing protocols, insufficient attention to complete mineralization of microplastics, and a general lack of assessment regarding real-world scalability. Looking ahead, the review argues for unified evaluation frameworks, clearer mechanistic understanding, and testing conditions that reflect actual environmental scenarios; only then can nanocomposite technologies be meaningfully compared and eventually deployed in practice for microplastic remediation.