Issue 36, 2023

Combining photocatalytic collection and degradation of microplastics using self-asymmetric Pac-Man TiO2

Abstract

Microplastics are a significant environmental threat and the lack of efficient removal techniques further amplifies this crisis. Photocatalytic semiconducting nanoparticles have the potential to degrade micropollutants, among them microplastics. The hydrodynamic effects leading to the propulsion of micromotors can lead to the accumulation of microplastics in close vicinity of the micromotor. Incorporating these different properties into a single photocatalytic micromotor (self-propulsion, phoretic assembly of passive colloids and photocatalytic oxidation of contaminants), we achieve a highly scalable, inherently-asymmetric Pac-Man TiO2 micromotor with the ability to actively collect and degrade microplastics. The target microplastics are homogeneous polystyrene microspheres (PS) to facilitate the optical degradation measurements. We cross-correlate the degradation with catalytic activity studies and critically evaluate the timescales required for all involved processes.

Graphical abstract: Combining photocatalytic collection and degradation of microplastics using self-asymmetric Pac-Man TiO2

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 Marts 2023
Accepted
05 Jūl. 2023
First published
14 Jūl. 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale, 2023,15, 14774-14781

Combining photocatalytic collection and degradation of microplastics using self-asymmetric Pac-Man TiO2

P. Chattopadhyay, M. C. Ariza-Tarazona, E. I. Cedillo-González, C. Siligardi and J. Simmchen, Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 14774 DOI: 10.1039/D3NR01512B

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