Functional Polymeric Materials for Micro- and Nanoplastic Removal from Waters.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Micro- and nanoplastic pollution is a growing threat to aquatic ecosystems.
• Efficient and scalable removal strategies are urgently needed.
• Functional polymeric materials (FPMs) show promise due to their tunable properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advances in polymer-based strategies for micro- and nanoplastic removal.
• To emphasize material design, interaction mechanisms, and process performance.
• To identify challenges and future research directions.

Main Methods:

• Review of diverse polymer-based materials including hydrogels, aerogels, composites, magnetic hybrids, and MOF-polymer systems.
• Analysis of removal mechanisms such as adsorption, filtration, coagulation/flocculation via electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic effects, π-π stacking, and physical entrapment.
• Evaluation of factors influencing removal performance like surface functionalization, porosity, surface area, and network architecture.

Main Results:

• Various FPMs demonstrate high removal efficiencies for micro- and nanoplastics.
• Material properties like surface functionalization and porosity significantly impact performance.
• Hybrid and natural polymers offer enhanced capacity, reusability, and sustainability.

Conclusions:

• FPMs are a flexible and high-performance platform for mitigating micro- and nanoplastic contamination.
• Challenges include standardization, scalability, stability, fouling resistance, and economic feasibility.
• Future research should focus on sustainable, multi-target, scalable FPMs with hybrid architectures and bioinspired designs for real-world applications.