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Polymers
Special Issues
Functional Polymeric Materials for Water and Wastewater Management
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Functional Polymeric Materials for Water and Wastewater Management

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 2818

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ming Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Interests: membrane-based separation processes; wastewater treatment and resource recovery; synthesis and appli-cation of water treatment materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xiaoqiang Cao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Safety and Environmental Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
Interests: purification of industrial wastewater; development and application of environmental advanced oxidation catalytic materials and high-performance adsorption materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water is indispensable to the functioning of most known lifeforms, and good water quality is essential to human health, social and economic development, and ecosystem functioning. The careful management of water and wastewater is a big challenge and “hot” trend in recent research. Some indicative/typical methods include biological treatments, adsorption, flocculation, oxidation, membranes, and filtration. The application of polymers and polymeric materials in wastewater treatment is a research field that has seen significant development in recent times. Conventional and novel approaches have been carried out by researchers from different areas, who have demonstrated that polymers and polymeric materials may have an important role in the removal of pollutants of different origins and natures from wastewater, in the disposal of sludge, in the recycling of materials, in the improved efficiency and economy of wastewater, etc.

In view of the relevant contributions that polymers and polymeric materials may make in the conservation of the aquatic environment, namely, by their application in wastewater treatment, this Special Issue aims at the publication of original research or review papers within this area. Scientific contributions on any aspect related to the utilization of polymers and polymeric materials—either synthetic or natural—on the treatment or purification of wastewater are welcomed.

Dr. Ming Chen
Dr. Xiaoqiang Cao
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. Polymers 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

  • wastewater treatment
  • organic contaminants
  • inorganic contaminants
  • pollutant removal
  • polymer applications

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 6585 KiB  
Article
Unripe Plantain Peel Biohydrogel for Methylene Blue Removal from Aqueous Solution
by Andrés Felipe Chamorro, Sixta Palencia Luna and Manuel Palencia
Polymers 2024, 16(22), 3135; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16223135 - 10 Nov 2024
Viewed by 767
Abstract
Dye contamination is a serious environmental issue, particularly affecting water bodies, driving efforts to synthesize adsorbent materials with high dye-removal capacities. In this context, eco-friendly and cost-effective materials derived from bioresidues are being explored to recycle and valorize waste. This study investigates the [...] Read more.
Dye contamination is a serious environmental issue, particularly affecting water bodies, driving efforts to synthesize adsorbent materials with high dye-removal capacities. In this context, eco-friendly and cost-effective materials derived from bioresidues are being explored to recycle and valorize waste. This study investigates the synthesis, characterization, and application of a biohydrogel made from unripe plantain peel (PP), modified with carboxymethyl groups and crosslinked using varying concentrations of citric acid (CA), an eco-friendly and economical organic acid. The materials were characterized by ATR-FTIR, TGA, and SEM, confirming the successful synthesis of hydrogels, which exhibited rough, irregular surfaces with micropores. Additionally, the materials were analyzed for their pH point of zero charge, swelling capacity, and methylene blue (MB) dye removal efficiency. The results indicate that the biohydrogel formed with 1% CA exhibited the most favorable characteristics for MB removal. Kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption mechanism is pH-dependent, with equilibrium being reached in 720 min. The Freundlich isotherm model provided the best fit for the adsorption data, suggesting a heterogeneous surface and a multilayer adsorption process, with a maximum retention capacity of 600.8 ± 2.1 mg/g at pH 4. These findings contribute to the development of cost-effective and efficient materials for dye removal, particularly from water bodies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Polymeric Materials for Water and Wastewater Management)
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22 pages, 4964 KiB  
Article
Viability of Total Ammoniacal Nitrogen Recovery Using a Polymeric Thin-Film Composite Forward Osmosis Membrane: Determination of Ammonia Permeability Coefficient
by Shirin Shahgodari, Joan Llorens and Jordi Labanda
Polymers 2024, 16(13), 1834; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16131834 - 27 Jun 2024
Viewed by 769
Abstract
Total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) occurs in various wastewaters and its recovery is vital for environmental reasons. Forward osmosis (FO), an energy-efficient technology, extracts water from a feed solution (FS) and into a draw solution (DS). Asymmetric FO membranes consist of an active layer [...] Read more.
Total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) occurs in various wastewaters and its recovery is vital for environmental reasons. Forward osmosis (FO), an energy-efficient technology, extracts water from a feed solution (FS) and into a draw solution (DS). Asymmetric FO membranes consist of an active layer and a support layer, leading to internal concentration polarization (ICP). In this study, we assessed TAN recovery using a polymeric thin-film composite FO membrane by determining the permeability coefficients of NH4+ and NH3. Calculations employed the solution–diffusion model, Nernst–Planck equation, and film theory, applying the acid–base equilibrium for bulk concentration corrections. Initially, model parameters were estimated using sodium salt solutions as the DS and deionized water as the FS. The NH4+ permeability coefficient was 0.45 µm/s for NH4Cl and 0.013 µm/s for (NH4)2SO4 at pH < 7. Meanwhile, the NH3 permeability coefficient was 6.18 µm/s at pH > 9 for both ammonium salts. Polymeric FO membranes can simultaneously recover ammonia and water, achieving 15% and 35% recovery at pH 11.5, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Polymeric Materials for Water and Wastewater Management)
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21 pages, 4660 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Performance Study of Boron Adsorbent from Plasma-Grafted Polypropylene Melt-Blown Fibers
by Yi Qin, Hui Jiang, Zhengwei Luo, Wenhua Geng and Jianliang Zhu
Polymers 2024, 16(11), 1460; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16111460 - 22 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 866
Abstract
In this study, the plasma graft polymerization technique was used to graft glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto polypropylene (PP) melt-blown fibers, which were subsequently aminated with N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG) by a ring-opening reaction, resulting in the formation of a boron adsorbent denoted as PP-g-GMA-NMDG. The [...] Read more.
In this study, the plasma graft polymerization technique was used to graft glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto polypropylene (PP) melt-blown fibers, which were subsequently aminated with N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG) by a ring-opening reaction, resulting in the formation of a boron adsorbent denoted as PP-g-GMA-NMDG. The optimal conditions for GMA concentration, grafting time, grafting temperature, and the quantity of NMDG were determined using both single factor testing and orthogonal testing. These experiments determined the optimal process conditions to achieve a high boron adsorption capacity of PP-g-GMA-NMDG. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersion spectrum analysis (EDS), and water contact angle measurements were performed to characterize the prepared adsorbent. Boron adsorption experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of pH, time, temperature, and boron concentration on the boron adsorption capacity of PP-g-GMA-NMDG. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics of PP-g-GMA-NMDG for boron were also studied. The results demonstrated that the adsorption process followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and a Langmuir isothermal model. At a pH of 6, the maximum saturation adsorption capacity of PP-g-GMA-NMDG for boron was 18.03 ± 1 mg/g. In addition, PP-g-GMA-NMDG also showed excellent selectivity for the adsorption of boron in the presence of other cations, such as Na+, Mg2+, and Ca2+, PP-g-GMA-NMDG, and exhibited excellent selectivity towards boron adsorption. These results indicated that the technique of preparing PP-g-GMA-NMDG is both viable and environmentally benign. The PP-g-GMA-NMDG that was made has better qualities than other similar adsorbents. It has a high adsorption capacity, great selectivity, reliable repeatability, and easy recovery. These advantages indicated that the adsorbents have significant potential for widespread application in the separation of boron in water. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Polymeric Materials for Water and Wastewater Management)
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