Ali Imran, Wei Li, Jiangang Han, Saroj Devendra P, Naz Iffat
College of Ecology and Environment (CEE), Nanjing Forestry University (NFU), No. 159, Longpan Road, Nanjing, 210037, Jiangsu Province, China.
School of Chemical Engineering and Materials, Changzhou Institute of Technology, No. 666 Liaohe Road, Changzhou, 213032, China.
J Environ Manage. 2025 Nov;394:127257. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127257. Epub 2025 Sep 17.
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have been considered as environmental threats because of their unique physicochemical properties, resistance to degradation, chemical stability, higher toxicity, and strong affinity for coexisting contaminants. Despite of ubiquitous pollution of MPs/NPs, its cost-effective remediation remains a dispute due to their low concentration, widespread distribution, and smaller size in water bodies. Numerous conventional treatments methods, including adsorption, filtration, coagulation, bioremediation, and advanced oxidation, have shown their competence to eradicate MPs/NPs. However, certain limitations, such as lower removal performance, expensive operational and maintenance costs, and generation of secondary pollutants, are hindering their market penetration. Recently, robotic technology has been considered as a ground-breaking invention for environmental remediation due to their unique intelligence-based self-propelled programmable mobility, promising controllability, smaller size, and surface catalytic activity. It can improve remediation practicability by overcoming diffusion-limited reactions and stimulate rapid interaction with targeted MPs/NPs. Notably, MPs/NPs can be captured and degraded simultaneously via the combination of diverse mechanisms. Therefore, this critical review has been designed to discuss the synthesis modulations of robotic technology for the remediation of MPs/NPs from aquatic environments. The synthesized robots have been categorized into four major classes: iron (Fe)-based, catalytic material-based, polymer-based, and bio-based robots, and their trapping/capturing and degradation performances have been critically explored. Importantly, the sway of diverse critical factors, such as characteristics of robots, properties of plastic particles, reaction time, operating distance, solution pH, co-existing/interfering ions, and natural organic matter, on the treatment performance of robots have been critically evaluated. In addition, the prospective of robotic technology in eradicating MPs/NPs from real sewage has been revealed. Importantly, barriers in marketing of robotic technology for MPs/NPs remediation from water environments have been critically elaborated to assist experts in transferring it from laboratory to market. Finally, the existing knowledge gaps and prospects are emphasized to help scientists to improve robotic technology to combat plastic particles pollution.
微塑料（MPs）和纳米塑料（NPs）因其独特的物理化学性质、抗降解性、化学稳定性、较高的毒性以及对共存污染物的强亲和力而被视为环境威胁。尽管MPs/NPs普遍存在污染问题，但由于其在水体中的浓度低、分布广泛且尺寸较小，其经济有效的修复方法仍存在争议。许多传统处理方法，包括吸附、过滤、混凝、生物修复和高级氧化，已显示出其去除MPs/NPs的能力。然而，某些局限性，如去除性能较低、运营和维护成本高昂以及产生二次污染物，正阻碍着它们的市场推广。最近，机器人技术因其独特的基于智能的自推进可编程移动性、良好的可控性、较小的尺寸和表面催化活性，被视为环境修复的一项突破性发明。它可以通过克服扩散限制反应来提高修复的实用性，并促进与目标MPs/NPs的快速相互作用。值得注意的是，MPs/NPs可以通过多种机制的组合同时被捕获和降解。因此，本综述旨在讨论用于从水生环境中修复MPs/NPs的机器人技术的合成调控。合成的机器人已被分为四大类：铁（Fe）基机器人、催化材料基机器人、聚合物基机器人和生物基机器人，并对它们的捕获/俘获和降解性能进行了严格探讨。重要的是，已严格评估了各种关键因素，如机器人的特性、塑料颗粒的性质、反应时间、操作距离、溶液pH值、共存/干扰离子和天然有机物，对机器人处理性能的影响。此外，还揭示了机器人技术在从实际污水中去除MPs/NPs方面的前景。重要的是，已详细阐述了用于水环境中MPs/NPs修复的机器人技术在市场推广方面的障碍，以帮助专家将其从实验室转化到市场。最后，强调了现有的知识差距和前景，以帮助科学家改进机器人技术来应对塑料颗粒污染。
