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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 27173

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Prof. Dr. Shaojun Yuan

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Low-Carbon Technology & Chemical Reaction Engineering Lab, College of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Interests: nano environmental materials; adsorption; CO₂ capture; supercapacitor; supwetting surfaces for oil/water separation
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Dr. Ying Liang

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College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Interests: superwetting membrane; antibacterial membrane; stimuli-responsive membrane
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Dr. Changkun Liu

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College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, China
Interests: membranes; adsorption; water treatment
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Dr. Xiaoying Liu

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Guest Editor

College of Environment and Resources, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China
Interests: supercapacitor; self-assembled nanostructures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental pollution is a global risk and its magnitude is increasing day-by-day due to urbanization, heavy industrialization, and the changing lifestyles of people. In this context, providing clean air and water and a clean environment for people is a challenging task. The advent of nanotechnology has given immense scope and opportunities for the fabrication of desired nanomaterials with large surface-to-volume ratios (and hence excellent chemical reactivities) and unique functionalities to treat pollutants. The nanomaterials play major roles in environmental remediation and are used for purposes such as the treatment of natural waters, soils, sediments, industrial and domestic wastewater, mine tailings, and the polluted atmosphere. Despite the excellent progress in all types of nano environmental materials for environmental remediation, significant challenges remain to be addressed. Nano environmental materials have played and will undoubtedly continue to play critical roles in the future developments of environmental remediation technologies.

This Special Issue will collect state-of-the-art works on nano environmental materials, particularly on the application of nanostructured materials and nanoscale materials for a wide range of environmental applications. In addition to original research papers, comprehensive review articles are most welcome. It is our great pleasure to invite you to submit contributions to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Shaojun Yuan
Dr. Ying Liang
Dr. Changkun Liu
Dr. Xiaoying Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

nanosorbents
nanocatalysts
photocatalytic nanomaterials
MOFs-based environmental materials
graphene-based environmental materials
carbon nanotube-based environmental materials
1D nano environmental materials
2D nano environmental materials
3D nano environmental materials
nanostructured environmental materials
nanoscale environmental materials
nanocomposite environmental materials
nanomaterial-based applications for water treatment
nanomaterial-based applications for air purification
nanomaterial-based applications for soil sustainability
nanomaterial-based applications for clean energy
sustainable nanotechnology

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 4180 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis and Characterization of Chelating Hyperbranched Polyester Nanoparticles for Cd(II) Ion Removal from Water

by Faten Alregeb, Fawwaz Khalili, Bassam Sweileh and Dalia Khalil Ali

Molecules 2022, 27(12), 3656; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27123656 - 07 Jun 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1468

Abstract

Chelating hyperbranched polyester (CHPE) nanoparticles have become an attractive new material family for developing high-capacity nanoscale chelating agents with highly branched structures and many functional groups in the main chains and end groups that can be used to remove heavy metals from water. In this study, a hyperbranched polyester with a particle size of 180–643 nm was synthesized with A₂+B₃ interfacial polymerization, using dimethylmalonyl chloride as the difunctional monomer (A₂) and 1,1,1-tris(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethane (THPE) as the trifunctional monomer (B₃). FTIR and NMR were used to characterize the CHPE and confirm the structure. The CHPE nanoparticles were generally considered hydrophilic, with an observed swelling capacity of 160.70%. The thermal properties of the CHPE nanoparticles were studied by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) with 1% mass loss at temperatures above 185 °C. The XRD of the CHPE nanoparticles showed a semi-crystalline pattern, as evident from the presence of peaks at positions ~18° and 20°. The nature of the surface of the CHPE was examined using SEM. Batch equilibrium was used to investigate the removal properties of the CHPE nanoparticles towards Cd(II) ions as a function of temperature, contact time, and Cd(II) concentration. The Cd(II) ion thermodynamics, kinetics, and desorption data on the CHPE nanoparticles were also studied. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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17 pages, 2831 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Analysis of Microbial Consortiums and Nanoparticles for Rehabilitating Petroleum Waste Contaminated Soils

by Shehla Sattar, Samina Siddiqui, Asim Shahzad, Asghari Bano, Muhammad Naeem, Rahib Hussain, Naeem Khan, Basit Latief Jan and Humaira Yasmin

Molecules 2022, 27(6), 1945; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27061945 - 17 Mar 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2086

Abstract

Nano-bioremediation application is an ecologically and environmentally friendly technique to overcome the catastrophic situation in soil because of petroleum waste contamination. We evaluated the efficiency of oil-degrading bacterial consortium and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with or without fertilizer to remediate soils collected from petroleum waste contaminated oil fields. Physicochemical characteristics of control soil and petroleum contaminated soils were assessed. Four oil-degrading strains, namely Bacillus pumilus (KY010576), Exiguobacteriaum aurantiacum (KY010578), Lysinibacillus fusiformis (KY010586), and Pseudomonas putida (KX580766), were selected based on their in vitrohydrocarbon-degrading efficiency. In a lab experiment, contaminated soils were treated alone and with combined amendments of the bacterial consortium, AgNPs, and fertilizers (ammonium nitrate and diammonium phosphate). We detected the degradation rate of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) of the soil samples with GC-FID at different intervals of the incubation period (0, 5, 20, 60, 240 days). The bacterial population (CFU/g) was also monitored during the entire period of incubation. The results showed that 70% more TPH was degraded with a consortium with their sole application in 20 days of incubation. There was a positive correlation between TPH degradation and the 100-fold increase in bacterial population in contaminated soils. This study revealed that bacterial consortiums alone showed the maximum increase in the degradation of TPHs at 20 days. The application of nanoparticles and fertilizer has non-significant effects on the consortium degradation potential. Moreover, fertilizer alone or in combination with AgNPs and consortium slows the rate of degradation of TPHs over a short period. Still, it subsequently accelerates the rate of degradation of TPHs, and a negligible amount remains at the end of the incubation period. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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20 pages, 7412 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Single-Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of Biochar from H₃PO₄-Activated Lettuce Waste for Efficient Adsorption of Cd(II) in Aqueous Solution

by Quyun Chen, Tian C. Zhang, Like Ouyang and Shaojun Yuan

Molecules 2022, 27(1), 269; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27010269 - 02 Jan 2022

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2824

Abstract

Developing an ideal and cheap adsorbent for adsorbing heavy metals from aqueous solution has been urgently need. In this study, a novel, effective and low-cost method was developed to prepare the biochar from lettuce waste with H₃PO₄ as an acidic activation agent at a low-temperature (circa 200 °C) hydrothermal carbonization process. A batch adsorption experiment demonstrated that the biochar reaches the adsorption equilibrium within 30 min, and the optimal adsorption capacity of Cd(II) is 195.8 mg∙g⁻¹ at solution pH 6.0, which is significantly improved from circa 20.5 mg∙g⁻¹ of the original biochar without activator. The fitting results of the prepared biochar adsorption data conform to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (PSO) and the Sips isotherm model, and the Cd(II) adsorption is a spontaneous and exothermic process. The hypothetical adsorption mechanism is mainly composed of ion exchange, electrostatic attraction, and surface complexation. This work offers a novel and low-temperature strategy to produce cheap and promising carbon-based adsorbents from organic vegetation wastes for removing heavy metals in aquatic environment efficiently. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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14 pages, 4381 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Photocatalytic Reduction of Cr (VI) over g-C₃N₄ Photocatalysts Synthesized by Different Precursors

by Juan Liang, Chengjun Jing, Jiarong Wang and Yupawang Men

Molecules 2021, 26(22), 7054; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26227054 - 22 Nov 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2224

Abstract

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) photocatalysts were synthesized via a one-step pyrolysis process using melamine, dicyandiamide, thiourea, and urea as precursors. The obtained g-C₃N₄ materials exhibited a significantly different performance for the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) under white light irradiation, which is attributed to the altered structure and occupancies surface groups. The urea-derived g-C₃N₄ with nanosheet morphology, large specific surface area, and high occupancies of surface amine groups exhibited superior photocatalytic activity. The nanosheet morphology and large surface area facilitated the separation and transmission of charge, while the high occupancies of surface amine groups promoted the formation of hydrogen adsorption atomic centers which were beneficial to Cr(VI) reduction. Moreover, the possible reduction pathway of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) over the urea-derived g-C₃N₄ was proposed and the reduction process was mainly initiated by a direct reduction of photogenerated electrons. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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16 pages, 2235 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adsorption Capacities of Iron Hydroxide for Arsenate and Arsenite Removal from Water by Chemical Coagulation: Kinetics, Thermodynamics and Equilibrium Studies

by Muhammad Ali Inam, Rizwan Khan, Kang Hoon Lee, Muhammad Akram, Zameer Ahmed, Ki Gang Lee and Young Min Wie

Molecules 2021, 26(22), 7046; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26227046 - 22 Nov 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1907

Abstract

Arsenic (As)-laden wastewater may pose a threat to biodiversity when released into soil and water bodies without treatment. The current study investigated the sorption properties of both As(III, V) oxyanions onto iron hydroxide (FHO) by chemical coagulation. The potential mechanisms were identified using the adsorption models, ζ-potential, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FT-IR) analysis. The results indicate that the sorption kinetics of pentavalent and trivalent As species closely followed the pseudo-second-order model, and the adsorption rates of both toxicants were remarkably governed by pH as well as the quantity of FHO in suspension. Notably, the FHO formation was directly related to the amount of ferric chloride (FC) coagulant added in the solution. The sorption isotherm results show a better maximum sorption capacity for pentavalent As ions than trivalent species, with the same amount of FHO in the suspensions. The thermodynamic study suggests that the sorption process was spontaneously exothermic with increased randomness. The ζ-potential, FT-IR and XRD analyses confirm that a strong Fe-O bond with As(V) and the closeness of the surface potential of the bonded complex to the point of zero charge (pH_zpc) resulted in the higher adsorption affinity of pentavalent As species than trivalent ions in most aquatic conditions. Moreover, the presence of sulfates, phosphates, and humic and salicylic acid significantly affected the As(III, V) sorption performance by altering the surface properties of Fe precipitates. The combined effect of charge neutralization, complexation, oxidation and multilayer chemisorption was identified as a major removal mechanism. These findings may provide some understanding regarding the fate, transport and adsorption properties onto FHO of As oxyanions in a complex water environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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15 pages, 2933 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Simple One-Step Modification of Shrimp Shell for the Efficient Adsorption and Desorption of Copper Ions

by Changkun Liu, Hui Wen, Kaili Chen and Yanni Chen

Molecules 2021, 26(18), 5690; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26185690 - 20 Sep 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2017

Abstract

Removing toxic heavy metal species from aqueous solutions is a point of concern in our society. In this paper, a promising biomass adsorbent, the modified waste shrimp shell (MS), for Cu (II) removal was successfully prepared using a facile and simple one-step modification, making it possible to achieve high-efficiency recycling of the waste NaOH solution as the modification agent. The outcome shows that with the continuous increase in pH, temperature and ion concentration, the adsorption effect of MS on Cu (II) can also be continuously improved. Adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetics were fitted with the Langmuir isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order model, respectively, and the maximum adsorption capacity of Cu (II) as obtained from the Langmuir isotherm model fitting reached 1.04 mmol/g. The systematic desorption results indicated that the desorption rate of Cu (II) in the MS could reach 100% within 6 min, where HNO₃ is used as the desorption agent. Moreover, experiments have proven that after five successive recycles of NaOH as a modifier, the adsorption capacity of MS on Cu (II) was efficient and stable, maintaining tendency in 0.83–0.85 mmol/g, which shows that waste NaOH solution can be used as a modification agent in the preparation of waste shrimp shell adsorbent, such as waste NaOH solution produced in industrial production, thereby making it possible to turn waste into renewable resources and providing a new way to recycle resources. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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11 pages, 3645 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Conductivity and Antibacterial Behavior of Cotton via the Electroless Deposition of Silver

by Changkun Liu, Dan Liao, Fuqing Ma, Zenan Huang, Ji’an Liu and Ibrahim M. A. Mohamed

Molecules 2021, 26(16), 4731; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26164731 - 05 Aug 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1617

Abstract

In this study, the surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) technique and electroless deposition of silver (Ag) were used to prepare a novel multi-functional cotton (Cotton-Ag), possessing both conductive and antibacterial behaviors. It was found that the optimal electroless deposition time was 20 min for a weight gain of 40.4%. The physical and chemical properties of Cotton-Ag were investigated. It was found that Cotton-Ag was conductive and showed much lower electrical resistance, compared to the pristine cotton. The antibacterial properties of Cotton-Ag were also explored, and high antibacterial activity against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was observed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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11 pages, 3113 KiB

Open AccessArticle

MWCNT Decorated Rich N-Doped Porous Carbon with Tunable Porosity for CO₂ Capture

by Yuanjie Xiong, Yuan Wang, Housheng Jiang and Shaojun Yuan

Molecules 2021, 26(11), 3451; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26113451 - 07 Jun 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2818

Abstract

Designing of porous carbon system for CO₂ uptake has attracted a plenty of interest due to the ever-increasing concerns about climate change and global warming. Herein, a novel N rich porous carbon is prepared by in-situ chemical oxidation polyaniline (PANI) on a surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and then activated with KOH. The porosity of such carbon materials can be tuned by rational introduction of MWCNTs, adjusting the amount of KOH, and controlling the pyrolysis temperature. The obtained M/P-0.1-600-2 adsorbent possesses a high surface area of 1017 m² g⁻¹ and a high N content of 3.11 at%. Such M/P-0.1-600-2 adsorbent delivers an enhanced CO₂ capture capability of 2.63 mmol g⁻¹ at 298.15 K and five bars, which is 14 times higher than that of pristine MWCNTs (0.18 mmol g⁻¹). In addition, such M/P-0.1-600-2 adsorbent performs with a good stability, with almost no decay in a successive five adsorption-desorption cycles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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14 pages, 3130 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimizing Adsorption of 17α-Ethinylestradiol from Water by Magnetic MXene Using Response Surface Methodology and Adsorption Kinetics, Isotherm, and Thermodynamics Studies

by Mengwei Xu, Chao Huang, Jing Lu, Zihan Wu, Xianxin Zhu, Hui Li, Langtao Xiao and Zhoufei Luo

Molecules 2021, 26(11), 3150; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26113150 - 25 May 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2092

Abstract

Magnetic MXene composite Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ was successfully prepared and employed as 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) adsorbent from water solution. The response surface methodology was employed to investigate the interactive effects of adsorption parameters (adsorption time, pH of the solution, initial concentration, and the adsorbent dose) and optimize these parameters for obtaining maximum adsorption efficiency of EE2. The significance of independent variables and their interactions were tested by the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test statistics. Optimization of the process variables for maximum adsorption of EE2 by Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ was performed using the quadratic model. The model predicted maximum adsorption of 97.08% under the optimum conditions of the independent variables (adsorption time 6.7 h, pH of the solution 6.4, initial EE2 concentration 0.98 mg L⁻¹, and the adsorbent dose 88.9 mg L⁻¹) was very close to the experimental value (95.34%). pH showed the highest level of significance with the percent contribution (63.86%) as compared to other factors. The interactive influences of pH and initial concentration on EE2 adsorption efficiency were significant (p < 0.05). The goodness of fit of the model was checked by the coefficient of determination (R²) between the experimental and predicted values of the response variable. The response surface methodology successfully reflects the impact of various factors and optimized the process variables for EE2 adsorption. The kinetic adsorption data for EE2 fitted well with a pseudo-second-order model, while the equilibrium data followed Langmuir isotherms. Thermodynamic analysis indicated that the adsorption was a spontaneous and endothermic process. Therefore, Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ composite present the outstanding capacity to be employed in the remediation of EE2 contaminated wastewaters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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Review

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12 pages, 715 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Perspective and Challenge of Nanomaterials in Oil and Gas Wastewater Treatment

by Xiaoying Liu, Wenlin Ruan, Wei Wang, Xianming Zhang, Yunqi Liu and Jingcheng Liu

Molecules 2021, 26(13), 3945; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26133945 - 28 Jun 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2427

Abstract

Oil and gas wastewater refers to the waste stream produced in special production activities such as drilling and fracturing. This kind of wastewater has the following characteristics: high salinity, high chromaticity, toxic and harmful substances, poor biodegradability, and a difficulty to treat. Interestingly, nanomaterials show great potential in water treatment technology because of their small size, large surface area, and high surface energy. When nanotechnology is combined with membrane treatment materials, nanofiber membranes with a controllable pore size and high porosity can be prepared, which provides more possibilities for oil–water separation. In this review, the important applications of nanomaterials in wastewater treatment, including membrane separation technology and photocatalysis technology, are summarized. Membrane separation technology is mainly manifested in ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO). It also focuses on the application of semiconductor photocatalysis technology induced by TiO₂ in the degradation of oil and gas wastewater. Finally, the development trends of nanomaterials in oil and gas wastewater treatment are prospected. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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24 pages, 2998 KiB

Open AccessReview

Montmorillonite-Based Two-Dimensional Nanocomposites: Preparation and Applications

by Runzhi Wang, Huijie Li, Guangxu Ge, Nan Dai, Jinsong Rao, Haodi Ran and Yuxin Zhang

Molecules 2021, 26(9), 2521; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26092521 - 26 Apr 2021

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 3962

Abstract

Montmorillonite (Mt) is a kind of 2:1 type layered phyllosilicate mineral with nanoscale structure, large surface area, high cation exchange capacity and excellent adsorption capacity. By virtue of such unique properties, many scholars have paid much attention to the further modification of Mt-based two-dimensional (2D) functional composite materials, such as Mt-metal hydroxides and Mt-carbon composites. In this review, we focus on two typical Mt-2D nanocomposite: Mt@layered double hydroxide (Mt@LDH) and Mt@graphene (Mt@GR) and their fabrication strategies, as well as their important applications in pollution adsorption, medical antibacterial, film thermal conduction and flame-retardant. In principle, the prospective trend of the composite preparation of Mt-2D nancomposites and promising fields are well addressed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano Environmental Materials)

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