Photocatalytic and Enzymatic Degradation of Microplastics: Current Status, Comparison, and Combination

Microplastics (MPs), as emerging environmental pollutants, pose a significant global environmental challenge due to their persistence, widespread distribution, and ecological health risks. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the photocatalytic and enzymatic degradation of MPs. The mechanism, treatment efficiency, advantages, and disadvantages of degradation techniques are compared and analyzed, together with their scope of application. Photocatalytic degradation exhibits high efficiency but may generate secondary pollution; enzymatic degradation operates under mild conditions with strong specificity but at a slower rate. Both methods possess distinct advantages and disadvantages in terms of mechanism and applicability. The combined methods exhibit a superior performance compared to standalone techniques by overcoming the inherent limitations of each approach. Prospects for future development trends and challenges in MP treatment technologies are also discussed, together with proposed directions and recommendations for further research.