Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Materials Used to Improve the Environment and Human Health

The Special Issue on “Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Materials Used to Improve the Environment and Human Health” is a collection of 11 original articles (including one communication paper) dedicated to theoretical and experimental research works providing new insights and practical findings in the fields of the environmental protection and human health—related topics.

Almost 26 million tons of plastic waste is generated in Europe every year, according to the specialized studies, most of it being found in the maritime space. Another important pollution factor is food waste. During the process of food decomposition, a significant amount of CO₂ and methane is emitted, which contributes to the potentiating of the greenhouse effect. On the other hand, the excess of nutrients from the land reaches the groundwater, changing the pH of the waters; this favors the excessive growth of algae and bacteria leading to imbalances in the aquatic ecosystem. Thus, various pollution factors compete and request mankind to approach new attitudes, both economically and socially in order to limit the disastrous effects of planet pollution.

In recent years, studies have focused on the development of analysis, monitoring and reduction methods for pollution factors. Thus, hybrid materials were developed (Aleksandrova et al. [1]) that are the basis for the realization of sensors for the detection of volatile organic compounds, while Mădălan [2] synthesized a complex cadmium structure with tris(2-aminoethyl)amine ligand for spontaneous atmospheric CO₂ capture.

The methods to reduce the pollution factors aimed at the catalytic processes, by obtaining new catalysts based on Cu/ZSM-5 (Santa Cruz-Navarro et al. [3]) and the self-cleaning processes that take place after the deposition of ZnO Nps on cotton fabric (Ji et al. [4]).

The use of green energy sources, with direct applications regarding solar energy, is another area that reflects the methods of reducing pollution factors. The materials from which solar cells are made are of real scientific interest and of great importance from an economic perspective. In connection with these, Galić et al. [5] presents a study on the physical properties and mechanical behavior of some sandwich-type structures made of laminated glass with a polymeric intermediary layer. On the other hand, Tripathy et al. [6] and Zhang et al. [7] are concerned with increasing the efficiency of solar cells, by improving the performance characteristics of the components, the films covering the device’s surface, respectively.

All these results aimed at reducing the effects of pollution on the environment are directly reflected through the general state of human health. Moreover, the increase in the level of accumulated knowledge and the more intense concern with the methods of protecting the environment have oriented the research on environmentally friendly compounds. Thus, natural compounds for use in fields such as health, industry or agriculture are targeted. The current trend of consuming as many organic products as possible has led to the development of natural biocide products (Firmino et al. [8]) and natural food supplements whose bioactive compounds contribute to the treatment or improvement of various ailments (Parveen et al. [9]).

At the same time, the organic–inorganic hybrid materials with luminescent properties based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) type structures obtained by Demakov et al. [10] and those based on clays, of the host-dye matrix type synthesized by Raduly et al. [11] find uses in various fields as optical, medical applications and the food industry, which directly influence health and the human condition.

We hope that this collection of papers will meet expectations of readers looking for new advances in the Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Materials Used to Improve the Environment and Human Health field, as well as bringing inspirations for further research work.