Nano‐ and Microplastics Degradation Using Defect‐engineered Photocatalytic Feedstocks

The abundance of nano- and microplastics pollution in wastewater, sludge, and soil is, nowadays, of growing concern for environmental safety and human health. The application of defective photocatalytic materials is among the emerging approaches for their remediation from soil and wastewater. This chapter describes, initially, the sources and impact of nano- and microplastics pollution on human health and the environment, followed by the different reported technologies for these pollutants remediation. Then, the recent developments on the usage of defect-engineered materials to degrade nano- and microplastics in wastewater have been summarized. It also presents the advances in the design of defective photocatalytic materials for improving the efficiency of the photocatalysis processes in nano- and micro-plastics degradation. Lastly, future prospects and challenges related to the utilization of defect-engineered materials for nano- and micro-plastic degradation are outlined.