https://www.cas.cn/cm/202505/t20250508_5067651.shtml

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59467-x

Researchers from the CAS Institute of Metal Research have developed a floating titanium dioxide material that helps to decompose plastics under light. Without pre-treatment, the efficiency of the method in decomposing  plastic bags and plastic wrap is dozens to hundreds of times higher than that of traditional materials.

The researchers fabricated a hydrophobic organic-inorganic hybrid TiO₂ photocatalyst via a one-step solvothermal synthesis using Titanium (IV) butoxide, oleylamine, and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (C₁₀H₁₆N₂O₈) as precursorsmade. This procut floats on the water by covering it with a layer of “waterproof armor”. Compared with traditional titanium dioxide, floating titanium dioxide has two new functions: one is to allow sunlight, oxygen, photocatalytic materials and plastics to achieve zero-distance contact, breaking through the original contact barrier between photocatalytic materials and plastics; the second is to use superoxide radicals with a longer lifespan of up to 1 millisecond that can fully cut off the carbon chain of plastic molecules.