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Nanomaterials
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Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification
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Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Nanoscience and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 12787

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ana C. Perdigón

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Departamento QUIPRE, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de Los Castros 46, 39005 Santander, Spain
2. Grupo de Nanomedicina, IDIVAL, Avda. Cardenal Herrera Oria s/n, 39011 Santander, Spain
Interests: nanomaterials; clay minerals; adsorption; layered materials; material characterization; decontamination

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water contamination as result of human activities, such as industrialization, rapid population growth in some areas, and agricultural activities is an increasing global concern. According to United Nations statement, reliable access of drinking water is one of the most basic humanitarian goals, and is a major global challenge for this century. The most common pollutants of clean water are chemicals, pesticides, soil erosion, heavy metals, dyes, microorganisms, etc. Conventionally, precipitation, membrane filtration, ion exchange, flotation, coagulation-flocculation, adsorption and electrochemistry are efficient remediation methods for the removal of contaminants in water. Recently, functional nanocomposites open a new branch for effective water purification since nanocomposites exhibit high surface area due to their small particle size, and for hence an improved adsorption capacity.  The different synthesis routes developed for these nanomaterials provides the opportunity to optimize their properties such hydrophilicity-hydrophobicity, porosity and surface charge, among others, resulting in advance materials with improved features. Additionally, nanocomposites combine the properties of all their constituents resulting in smart materials with better functionality, efficiency, stability or selectivity. This Special Issue of Nanomaterials “Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification” aims to collect articles covering a broad range of subjects from nanocomposites synthesis to material characterization and adsorption studies. Potential topics include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Nanocomposite (polymer and non-polymer based) synthesis methods.
  • Different nanocomposite functionalization strategies.
  • Structural and textural characterization of nanocomposites.
  • Equilibrium studies: adsorption isotherms, Kinetic equations and thermodynamic parameters.
  • Application of nanocomposites for water decontamination: removal of heavy metals, dyes, pesticides and other pollutants.
  • Nanosensors, catalysis and photocatalysis, oxidation processes and antimicrobial activity.

Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Ana C. Perdigón
Guest Editor

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. Nanomaterials 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 2900 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

  • water purification
  • adsorption
  • nanocomposite
  • functionalization
  • kinetic
  • thermodinamic
  • synthesis procedures
  • characterization techniques
  • nanosensors

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 16999 KiB  
Article
Coordination-Polymer-Derived Cu-CoO/C Nanocomposite Used in Fenton-like Reaction to Achieve Efficient Degradation of Organic Compounds
by Linxu Xu, Rupeng Liu, Yubo Zhao, Xue Shen, Cuizhen Sun, Zhigang Yang, Jin Wang, Yufeng Du, Shuying Geng and Feiyong Chen
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(2), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14020132 - 5 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1103
Abstract
In this paper, carbon-matrix-supported copper (Cu) and cobaltous oxide (CoO) nanoparticles were obtained by using coordination polymers (CPs) as a precursor. The aqueous solutions of copper methacrylate (CuMA) and cobalt methacrylate (CoMA) were preferentially prepared, which were then mixed with anhydrous ethanol to [...] Read more.
In this paper, carbon-matrix-supported copper (Cu) and cobaltous oxide (CoO) nanoparticles were obtained by using coordination polymers (CPs) as a precursor. The aqueous solutions of copper methacrylate (CuMA) and cobalt methacrylate (CoMA) were preferentially prepared, which were then mixed with anhydrous ethanol to fabricate dual metal ion coordination polymers (CuMA/CoMA). After calcination under an argon atmosphere, the Cu-CoO/C nanocomposite was obtained. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) showed that the material has banded morphology, and the dual functional nanoparticles were highly dispersed in the carbon matrix. The prepared material was used in a heterogeneous Fenton-like reaction, with the aim of replacing traditional ferric catalysts to solve pH constraints and the mass production of ferric slime. The obtained nanocomposite showed excellent catalytic performance on the degradation of methylene blue (MB) at near-neutral conditions; the discoloration efficiency is about 98.5% within 50 min in the presence of 0.15 mmol/mL H2O2 and 0.5 mg/mL catalyst. And good reusability was verified via eight cycles. The plausible pathway for MB discoloration and the possible catalytic mechanism was also proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification)
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22 pages, 10723 KiB  
Article
Sodium Alginate–Aldehyde Cellulose Nanocrystal Composite Hydrogel for Doxycycline and Other Tetracycline Removal
by Xiangyu Huang, Cheng-Shiuan Lee, Katherine Zhang, Abdulrahman G. Alhamzani and Benjamin S. Hsiao
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(7), 1161; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13071161 - 24 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2197
Abstract
A novel composite hydrogel bead composed of sodium alginate (SA) and aldehyde cellulose nanocrystal (DCNC) was developed for antibiotic remediation through a one-step cross-linking process in a calcium chloride bath. Structural and physical properties of the hydrogel bead, with varying composition ratios, were [...] Read more.
A novel composite hydrogel bead composed of sodium alginate (SA) and aldehyde cellulose nanocrystal (DCNC) was developed for antibiotic remediation through a one-step cross-linking process in a calcium chloride bath. Structural and physical properties of the hydrogel bead, with varying composition ratios, were analyzed using techniques such as BET analysis, SEM imaging, tensile testing, and rheology measurement. The optimal composition ratio was found to be 40% (SA) and 60% (DCNC) by weight. The performance of the SA–DCNC hydrogel bead for antibiotic remediation was evaluated using doxycycline (DOXY) and three other tetracyclines in both single- and multidrug systems, yielding a maximum adsorption capacity of 421.5 mg g−1 at pH 7 and 649.9 mg g−1 at pH 11 for DOXY. The adsorption mechanisms were investigated through adsorption studies focusing on the effects of contact time, pH, concentration, and competitive contaminants, along with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of samples. The adsorption of DOXY was confirmed to be the synergetic effects of chemical reaction, electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and pore diffusion/surface deposition. The SA–DCNC composite hydrogel demonstrated high reusability, with more than 80% of its adsorption efficiency remaining after five cycles of the adsorption–desorption test. The SA–DCNC composite hydrogel bead could be a promising biomaterial for future antibiotic remediation applications in both pilot and industrial scales because of its high adsorption efficiency and ease of recycling. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification)
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18 pages, 6636 KiB  
Article
Molecularly Imprinted Magnetic Nanocomposite Based on Carboxymethyl Dextrin for Removal of Ciprofloxacin Antibiotic from Contaminated Water
by Golnaz Heidari, Fereshte Hassanzadeh Afruzi and Ehsan Nazarzadeh Zare
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(3), 489; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13030489 - 25 Jan 2023
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 1787
Abstract
Broad-spectrum antibiotics from the fluoroquinolone family have emerged as prominent water contaminants, among other pharmaceutical pollutants. In the present study, an antibacterial magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MMIP) composite was successfully fabricated using carboxy methyl dextrin grafted to poly(aniline-co-meta-phenylenediamine) in the presence [...] Read more.
Broad-spectrum antibiotics from the fluoroquinolone family have emerged as prominent water contaminants, among other pharmaceutical pollutants. In the present study, an antibacterial magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MMIP) composite was successfully fabricated using carboxy methyl dextrin grafted to poly(aniline-co-meta-phenylenediamine) in the presence of Fe3O4/CuO nanoparticles and ciprofloxacin antibiotic. The characteristics of obtained materials were investigated using FTIR, XRD, VSM, TGA, EDX, FE-SEM, zeta potential, and BETanalyses. Afterward, the MMIP’s antibacterial activity and adsorption effectiveness for removing ciprofloxacin from aqueous solutions were explored. The results of the antibacterial tests showed that MMIP had an antibacterial effect against Escherichia coli, a Gram-negative pathogen (16 mm), and Staphylococcus aureus, a Gram-positive pathogen (22 mm). Adsorption efficacy was evaluated under a variety of experimental conditions, including solution pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, and initial concentration. The maximum adsorption capacity (Qmax) of the MMIP for ciprofloxacin was determined to be 1111.1 mg/g using 3 mg of MMIP, with an initial concentration of 400 mg/L of ciprofloxacin at pH 7, within 15 min, and agitated at 25 °C, and the experimental adsorption results were well-described by the Freundlich isotherm model. The adsorption kinetic data were well represented by the pseudo-second-order model. Electrostatic interaction, cation exchange, π-π interactions, and hydrogen bonding were mostly able to adsorb the majority of the ciprofloxacin onto the MMIP. Adsorption–desorption experiments revealed that the MMIP could be retrieved and reused with no noticeable reduction in adsorption efficacy after three consecutive cycles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification)
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10 pages, 3461 KiB  
Article
Bilayer Designed Paper-Based Solar Evaporator for Efficient Seawater Desalination
by Ying Qin, Yongzheng Li, Ruijie Wu, Xiaodi Wang, Jinli Qin, Yingjuan Fu, Menghua Qin, Zhiwei Wang, Yongchao Zhang and Fengshan Zhang
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(19), 3487; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12193487 - 5 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1958
Abstract
Solar desalination devices utilizing sustainable solar energy and the abundant resource of seawater has great potential as a response to global freshwater scarcity. Herein, a bilayered solar evaporator was designed and fabricated utilizing a facile paper sheet forming technology, which was composed of [...] Read more.
Solar desalination devices utilizing sustainable solar energy and the abundant resource of seawater has great potential as a response to global freshwater scarcity. Herein, a bilayered solar evaporator was designed and fabricated utilizing a facile paper sheet forming technology, which was composed of cellulose fibers decorated with Fe3O4 nanoparticles as the top absorbent layer and the original cellulose fibers as the bottom supporting substrate. The characterization of the cellulose fibers decorated with Fe3O4 nanoparticles revealed that the in situ formed Fe3O4 nanoparticles were successfully loaded on the fiber surface and presented a unique rough surface, endowing the absorber layer with highly efficient light absorption and photothermal conversion. Moreover, due to its superhydrophilic property, the cellulose fiber-based bottom substrate conferred ultra-speed water transport capability, which could enable an adequate water supply to combat the water loss caused by continuous evaporation on the top layer. With the advantages mentioned above, our designed bilayered paper-based evaporator achieved an evaporation rate ~1.22 kg m−2 h−1 within 10 min under 1 sun irradiation, which was much higher than that of original cellulose cardboard. Based on the simple and scalable manufacture process, the bilayered paper-based evaporator may have great potential as a highly efficient photothermal conversion material for real-world desalination applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification)
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16 pages, 3690 KiB  
Article
Effective Removal of Tetracycline from Water Using Copper Alginate @ Graphene Oxide with In-Situ Grown MOF-525 Composite: Synthesis, Characterization and Adsorption Mechanisms
by Bing Chen, Yanhui Li, Qiuju Du, Xinxin Pi, Yuqi Wang, Yaohui Sun, Mingzhen Wang, Yang Zhang, Kewei Chen and Jinke Zhu
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(17), 2897; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12172897 - 23 Aug 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 1832
Abstract
For nanomaterials, such as GO and MOF-525, aggregation is the main reason limiting their adsorption performance. In this research, Alg-Cu@GO@MOF-525 was successfully synthesized by in-situ growth of MOF-525 on Alg-Cu@GO. By dispersing graphene oxide (GO) with copper alginate (Alg-Cu) with three-dimensional structure, MOF-525 [...] Read more.
For nanomaterials, such as GO and MOF-525, aggregation is the main reason limiting their adsorption performance. In this research, Alg-Cu@GO@MOF-525 was successfully synthesized by in-situ growth of MOF-525 on Alg-Cu@GO. By dispersing graphene oxide (GO) with copper alginate (Alg-Cu) with three-dimensional structure, MOF-525 was in-situ grown to reduce aggregation. The measured specific surface area of Alg-Cu@GO@MOF-525 was as high as 807.30 m2·g−1, which is very favorable for adsorption. The synthesized material has affinity for a variety of pollutants, and its adsorption performance is significantly enhanced. In particular, tetracycline (TC) was selected as the target pollutant to study the adsorption behavior. The strong acid environment inhibited the adsorption, and the removal percentage reached 96.6% when pH was neutral. Temperature promoted the adsorption process, and 318 K adsorption performance was the best under experimental conditions. Meanwhile, 54.6% of TC could be removed in 38 min, and the maximum adsorption capacity reached 533 mg·g−1, far higher than that of conventional adsorption materials. Kinetics and isotherms analysis show that the adsorption process accords with Sips model and pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamic study further shows that the chemisorption is spontaneous and exothermic. In addition, pore-filling, complexation, π-π stack, hydrogen bond and chemisorption are considered to be the causes of adsorption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification)
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13 pages, 3785 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of an Efficient N, S Co-Doped WO3 Operated in Wide-Range of Visible-Light for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation
by Dong Li, Fachao Wu, Caiyun Gao, Hongfang Shen, Fei Han, Fenglan Han and Zhanlin Chen
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(12), 2079; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12122079 - 16 Jun 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1776
Abstract
In this work, a highly efficient wide-visible-light-driven photoanode, namely, nitrogen and sulfur co-doped tungsten trioxide (S-N-WO3), was synthesized using tungstic acid (H2WO4) as W source and ammonium sulfide ((NH4)2S), which functioned simultaneously as [...] Read more.
In this work, a highly efficient wide-visible-light-driven photoanode, namely, nitrogen and sulfur co-doped tungsten trioxide (S-N-WO3), was synthesized using tungstic acid (H2WO4) as W source and ammonium sulfide ((NH4)2S), which functioned simultaneously as a sulfur source and as a nitrogen source for the co-doping of nitrogen and sulfur. The EDS and XPS results indicated that the controllable formation of either N-doped WO3 (N-WO3) or S-N-WO3 by changing the nW:n(NH4)2S ratio below or above 1:5. Both N and S contents increased when increasing the nW:n(NH4)2S ratio from 1:0 to 1:15 and thereafter decreased up to 1:25. The UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) of S-N-WO3 exhibited a significant redshift of the absorption edge with new shoulders appearing at 470–650 nm, which became more intense as the nW:n(NH4)2S ratio increased from 1:5 and then decreased up to 1:25, with the maximum at 1:15. The values of nW:n(NH4)2S ratio dependence is consistent with the cases of the S and N contents. This suggests that S and N co-doped into the WO3 lattice are responsible for the considerable redshift in the absorption edge, with a new shoulder appearing at 470–650 nm owing to the intrabandgap formation above the valence band (VB) edge and a dopant energy level below the conduction band (CB) of WO3. Therefore, benefiting from the S and N co-doping, the S-N-WO3 photoanode generated a photoanodic current under visible light irradiation below 580 nm due to the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation, compared with pure WO3 doing so below 470 nm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification)
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7 pages, 1646 KiB  
Communication
Design of Superhydrophobic CoFe2O4 Solar Seawater Desalination Device and Its Application in Organic Solvent Removal
by Xiangcai Ge, Zhijun Zhou, Zheng Tan, Shoufei Wang, Xingchuan Zhao, Guina Ren, Bo Ge and Wei Li
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(9), 1531; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12091531 - 2 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1426
Abstract
Environmental pollution and clean water production are challenges to the development of human society. In this paper, devices consisting of a superhydrophobic Ni-CoFe2O4 foam layer (floating layer), a hydrophilic channel and a superhydrophilic Ni-CoFe2O4 foam layer (photothermal [...] Read more.
Environmental pollution and clean water production are challenges to the development of human society. In this paper, devices consisting of a superhydrophobic Ni-CoFe2O4 foam layer (floating layer), a hydrophilic channel and a superhydrophilic Ni-CoFe2O4 foam layer (photothermal conversion layer) were designed. The light energy was converted into heat on the photothermal layer, for which the hydrophilic channel provided a small amount of water. The superhydrophobic layer ensured the floating and selective adsorption of organic solvents on the water surface, whose contact angle reached 157°, and the steam production rate reached 1.68 kg·m−2·h−1. Finally, the LSV curve demonstrated that the Ni-CoFe2O4 foam prepared had a minimum starting potential, achieving the multifunctionality of the Ni foam. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Nanocomposites for Water Purification)
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