Sustainability

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Dear Colleagues,

One of the foremost environmental problems existing around the world is water pollution. Considering the role of water and its significance in human and environmental health, decrease in its quality by pollution, and incomplete success in the removal of contaminants from water and wastewater by common treatment methods to meet the standard limits, the introduction of new attitudes and methods seems to be very necessary. Furthermore, clean water scarcity, combined with the environmental impacts of municipal and industrial wastewater, requires developing new technologies for clean water production and removing impurities and toxic contaminants from water and wastewater.

Remarkable advancements in material technologies have accelerated the use of many new materials and their hybrids and composites in diverse applications. Among such available options, nanocomposites are recognized to have the potential to introduce a future revolution, especially because of their flexible functionalities and related advantages. Scholars worldwide are concentrating on nanotechnology-centered water purification/treatment methods for efficient and effective sanitization of water bodies. Nanoscale composite materials have a huge potential to purify water in numerous ways due to their high surface area, high chemical reactivity, excellent mechanical strength, and cost-effectiveness. Nanocomposites are intelligent and eliminate bacteria, viruses, and inorganic and organic pollutants from wastewater due to precise binding actions (chelation, absorption, ion exchange). Nanocomposite materials—such as metal nanocomposites, metal oxide nanocomposites, carbon nanocomposites, polymer nanocomposites, and membranes nanocomposites—hold an active role in water purification

Researchers working on the synthesis and application of novel nanocomposites to treat water and wastewater containing pollutants are cordially invited to submit original research papers or reviews to this Special Issue of Sustainability. Case studies describing real-life applications of novel technologies are also very welcome.

Dr. Athanasia K. Tolkou
Guest Editor

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Keywords

nanomaterials
nanocomposites
water
wastewater
graphene oxide
metal nanocomposite
metal oxide nanocomposite
carbon nanocomposite
membranes nanocomposites

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3117 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Simultaneous Removal of As(III) and Fluoride Ions from Water Using Manganese Oxide Supported on Graphene Nanostructures (GO-MnO₂)

by Athanasia K. Tolkou, Dimitrios G. Trikkaliotis, George Z. Kyzas, Ioannis A. Katsoyiannis and Eleni A. Deliyanni

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1179; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021179 - 8 Jan 2023

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1872

Abstract

In the present research, the use of manganese oxides supported on graphene nanostructures (GO-MnO₂), which support the synergistic action of adsorption and oxidation, in the combined removal of arsenic and fluoride from drinking water was studied. The simultaneous occurrence of fluoride and arsenic in groundwater is one of the major environmental problems, occurring mainly in anhydrous regions of Latin America and the world. These pollutants cause significant health problems and are difficult to remove simultaneously from drinking water. The structure of GO-MnO₂ was characterized by the application of FTIR, EDS and SEM techniques. The effects of the adsorbent’s dosage, the pH value, the contact time and the initial concentrations of As(III) and F ions (F⁻) were examined with respect to the removal of As(III) and F ions. According to the results, the presence of arsenic enhances fluoride removal with increasing arsenic concentrations, and the presence of fluoride enhances arsenic removal with increasing fluoride concentrations, mainly at a neutral pH value. The co-presence removal efficiencies were 89% (a residual concentration of 1.04 mg/L) for fluoride and about 97% (a residual concentration of 2.89 μg/L) for arsenic. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances, Applications and Challenges for Nanocomposites in Water and Wastewater Treatment)

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17 pages, 2316 KiB

Open AccessArticle

H₂O₂-Enhanced As(III) Removal from Natural Waters by Fe(III) Coagulation at Neutral pH Values and Comparison with the Conventional Fe(II)-H₂O₂ Fenton Process

by Stefanos Koutzaris, Maria Xanthopoulou, Asterios Laskaridis and Ioannis A. Katsoyiannis

Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 16306; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316306 - 6 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1285

Abstract

Arsenic is a naturally occurring contaminant in waters, which is toxic and adversely affects human health. Therefore, treatment of water for arsenic removal is very important production of safe drinking water. Coagulation using Fe(III) salts is the most frequently applied technology for arsenic removal, but is efficient mostly for As(V) removal. As(III) removal usually requires the application of a pre-oxidation step, which is mainly conducted by chemical or biological means. In this study, we show that Fe(III) coagulation in the presence of H₂O₂ can be a very efficient treatment process for As(III) removal, which has been never been shown before in the literature. The results showed that addition of 8.7–43.7 mM hydrogen peroxide to Fe(III) coagulation process was able to increase the effectiveness of As(III) removal in synthetic groundwater by 15–20% providing residual concentrations well below the regulatory limit of 10 μg/L from initial As(III) concentrations of 100 μg/L, at pH 7. The enhanced coagulation process was affected by the solution pH. The removal efficiency substantially declined at alkaline pH values (pH > 8). Addition of EDTA in the absence of H₂O₂ had a strong inhibiting effect where the As(III) removal was almost zero when 88.38 μΜ EDTA were used. Radical quenching experiments with 50, 100 and 200 mM DMSO, methanol and 2-propanol in the H₂O₂-coagulation process had a slightly adverse effect on the removal efficiency. This is considered as indicative of an adsorption/oxidation of As(III) process onto or very near the surface of iron oxide particles, formed by the hydrolysis of Ferric iron ions. In practice, the results suggest that addition of H₂O₂ increases the As(III) removal efficiency for Fe(III) coagulation systems. This is an important finding because the pre-oxidation step can be omitted with the addition of H₂O₂ while treating water contaminated with As(III). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances, Applications and Challenges for Nanocomposites in Water and Wastewater Treatment)

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