Biotic-Abiotic Hybrid System for Efficient Soluble Plastic Degradation

The persistence of water-soluble plastics such as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) in aquatic systems poses a growing environmental challenge due to their poor biodegradability and structural recalcitrance. Current technologies struggle to efficiently mineralize PVA at a low cost. Here, we present an immersed biotic-abiotic hybrid system that spatially couples a visible-light-active CTO photocatalyst with microbial biofilms on a porous scaffold. This dual-function platform enables rapid polymer chain scission via photoinduced superoxide radicals, followed by substantial microbial mineralization under ambient aqueous conditions. The system achieves 99.1% PVA removal and over 80% mineralization within 330 min, significantly outperforming standalone photocatalytic or biological processes, and maintains high degradation efficiency over multiple cycles. This work provides a scalable and ecologically adaptive strategy for polymer pollutant treatment by integrating light-driven catalysis with microbial metabolism.