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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic increase in plastic wastes associated with the use of single-use masks, gloves, gowns, and other personal protective equipment (PPE). The accumulation of PPE, especially single-use masks, end up polluting environment, causing harm mainly to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Due to the enormous concern about plastic pollution, many efforts are being made to develop efficient technologies to tackle it, among which solid-state photocatalysis is highlighted. Even though the outstanding results that have been obtained with the solid-state application of photocatalysis, there are fewer publications and reports on the use of it in comparison with aqueous and/or gaseous phase photocatalysis. Then, this review presents the most relevant works published on this topic and provide an in-depth analysis of solid-state photocatalysis for plastic abatement, including the incorporation of the usually hydrophilic photocatalyst into the hydrophobic plastic matrix, the common experimental procedures for evaluating its effectiveness (gravimetric, optical, spectroscopic, and mechanical methods) and the description of the intricate reaction mechanism suggested so far. The aim is increasing the awareness on this innovative topic among the academic/industrial community and advancing the research thereon. • Solid-state photocatalysis is the hidden application of photocatalysis. • Solid-state photocatalysis is efficient to tackle the plastic pollution problem. • The main experimental tests for evaluating solid-state photocatalysis are shown. • PP, PE and PVC plastics are modified with TiO 2 to accelerate their degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the mineralization of a wastewater sample polluted with commercial dicloxacillin by TiO2-based solar heterogeneous photocatalysis was studied. The experimental tests were carried out in a compound parabolic collector (CPC) type reactor located at the Solar Photocatalytic Laboratory of the Universidad del Valle (Cali, Colombia). A Taguchi experimental design was used for evaluating the effects of the initial pH of the solution and the catalyst concentration on the photocatalytic mineralization of the polluted sample. The results exhibited that total organic carbon (TOC) removal up to 45% could be achieved by TiO2-based solar photocatalysis. According to the signal-to-noise ratios obtained from the Taguchi experimental design, the wastewater mineralization was favored at initial pH of 5 and TiO2 concentration of 0.3 g/l. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]