Multidimensional applications and potential health implications of nanocomposites.

This study reviews the concept, classifications, and techniques involved in the synthesis of nanocomposites. The environmental and health implications of nanoparticles and composite materials were detailed, as well as the applications of nanocomposites in water remediation, antibacterial application, and printed circuit boards. The study gave insights into the challenges of water pollution treatment and provided a broad list of nanocomposites that have been explored for water remediation. Moreover, the emergence of multi-drug resistance to many antibiotics has made current antibiotics inadequate in the treatment of disease. This has engineered the development of alternative strategies in the drug industries for the production of effective therapeutic agents, comprising nanocomposites with antibacterial agents. The new therapeutic agents known as nanoantibiotics are more efficient and have paved the way to handle the challenges of antibiotic resistance. In printed circuit boards, nanocomposites have shown promising applications because of their distinct mechanical, thermal, and electrical characteristics. The uniqueness of the write-up is that it provides a broad explanation of the concept, synthesis, application, toxicity, and harmful effects of nanocomposites. Thus, it will provide all-inclusive awareness to readers to identify research gaps and motivate researchers to synthesize novel nanocomposites for use in various fields.

Artificial neural network and response surface methodology for optimization of corrosion inhibition of mild steel in 1 M HCl by Musa paradisiaca peel extract.

Banana (Musa paradisiaca) peel extract (BPE) was used as an environmentally benign corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in 1.0 M HCl. The efficiency of BPE was assessed by monitoring the pH of HCl solution and the quantity of hydrogen gas evolved during the reaction, using gasometric and thermometric methods. Moreover, the effect of concentration and temperature on the inhibition efficiency was modelled and optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN). It was observed that the evolution of hydrogen gas decreases with increasing concentration of BPE, while it increases with time for the various concentrations up till 8 min before attaining constant values. By numerical optimization of RSM, the optimum corrosion inhibition efficiency of 60.08% was obtained at 308.08 K and concentration of 7.44 g/L for gasometric method, while an optimum of 61.25% was obtained at 308 K and 7.50 g/L for thermometric method. Optimization of inhibition parameters with ANN revealed the optimum number of neurons for both gasometric and thermometric methods to be 7; while the MSE are 2.2788 and 2.7306, and R2 are 96.21 and 98.86 respectively. Comparing the performance models of RSM and ANN: for gasometric method, R2 was 98.93 for RSM and 96.21 for ANN, while for thermometric method, R2 was obtained as 95.78 and 98.86 for RSM and ANN, respectively. Both RSM and ANN have demonstrated to be robust optimization techniques; particularly, ANN was found to give a good prediction of the available small dataset.

Performance Evaluation of Ultra-Violet Light and Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Synthetic Petroleum Wastewater: Kinetics of COD Removal.

In this study, the use of ultra-violet (UV) light with or without iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) for the degradation of synthetic petroleum wastewater was investigated. The IONPs was synthesised by sodium borohydride reduction of ferric chloride solution and was characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), x-ray fluorescence spectrophotometry (XRF), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The amount of degradation was evaluated by chemical oxygen demand (COD) determination. Experimental results show that the COD removal from synthetic petroleum wastewater by IONPs/UV system was more effective than they were independently. The combination of UV light at a wavelength of 254 nm, pH of 8, and 1.0 g of IONPs resulted in COD removal from 10.5% up to 95.5%. The photocatalytic degradation of synthetic petroleum wastewater is about 1.3-2.0 times faster in comparison to UV light only. The removal of COD from synthetic petroleum wastewater by UV light and IONPs follows the pseudo-first-order kinetic model with rate constant k ranging from 0.0133 min-1 to 0.0269 min-1. Consequently, this study has shown that the use of UV light in the presence of IONPs is favourable and effective for the removal of organic pollutants from petroleum refinery wastewater.

Ultrasonic degradation of aqueous phenolsulfonphthalein (PSP) in the presence of nano-Fe/H2O2.

In this study, nano iron (nano-Fe) was successfully synthesized by sodium borohydride reduction of ferric chloride solution to enhance the ultrasonic degradation of phenolsulfonphthalein (PSP). The nano-Fe was characterized by scanning electron microscopy - energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), attenuated total reflection - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) surface area determination. Experimental results demonstrated that a combined ultrasonic/nano-Fe/H2O2 system was more effective for PSP removal in combination than they were individually and there was a significant difference between the combined and single processes. The ultrasonic/nano-Fe/H2O2 degradation follows the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) kinetic model. The addition of nano-Fe and H2O2 to the ultrasonic reactor greatly accelerated the degradation of PSP (25 mg/L) from 12.5% up to 96.5%. These findings indicated that ultrasonic degradation in the presence of nano-Fe and H2O2 is a promising and efficient technique for the elimination of emerging micropollutants from aqueous solution.

Nano-TiO2, ultrasound and sequential nano-TiO2/ultrasonic degradation of N-acetyl-para-aminophenol from aqueous solution.

The application of nano-TiO2 as adsorbent combined with ultrasound for the degradation of N-acetyl-para-aminophenol (AAP) from aqueous solution was investigated. The nano-TiO2 was characterized by means of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Experimental results revealed that the adsorption of AAP by nano-TiO2 fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, the equilibrium could be explained by the Freundlich isotherm and the treatment process is exothermic. The optimum removal efficiency of AAP (128.89 mg/g (77.33%)) was achieved at pH 4 when 0.03 g of nano-TiO2 was mixed with 50 mL of 100 mg/L AAP aqueous solution at ambient temperature, 60 min contact time, and a stirring speed of 120 rpm. Ultrasound at 20 kHz and pH 3 was favorable and it resulted in 52.61% and 57.43% removal efficiency with and without the addition of nano-TiO2, respectively. The degradation of AAP by ultrasound followed by nano-TiO2 treatment resulted in approximately 99.50% removal efficiency. This study showed that a sequential ultrasound and nano-TiO2 treatment process could be employed for the removal of AAP or other emerging water and wastewater contaminants.

A Comparative Study of the Adsorption of Methylene Blue onto Synthesized Nanoscale Zero-Valent Iron-Bamboo and Manganese-Bamboo Composites.

In this study, bamboo impregnated with nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) and nanoscale manganese (nMn) were prepared by the aqueous phase borohydride reduction method and characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and PIXE analysis. The synthesized nMn-bamboo and nZVI-bamboo composites were subsequently applied to the sorption of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solution. The adsorption of MB dye was investigated under various experimental conditions such as pH, contact time, initial concentration of MB dye and adsorbent dosage. The results showed that the synthesized nZVI-bamboo composite was more effective than nMn-bamboo composite in terms of higher MB dye adsorption capacity of 322.5 mg/g compared to 263.5 mg/g of nMn-bamboo composite. At a concentration of 140 mg/L MB dye, 0.02 g of nZVI-bamboo and nMn-bamboo composites resulted in 79.6% and 78.3% removal, respectively, at 165 rpm, contact time of 120 min and at a solution pH of 7.6. The equilibrium data was best represented by Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-second order kinetic model better explained the kinetic data for both nZVI-bamboo and nMn-bamboo composites.

Utilization of nSiO2, fly ash, and nSiO 2/fly ash composite for the remediation of triphenyltin (TPT) from contaminated seawater.

The removal of triphenyltin chloride from contaminated simulated seawater with adsorption method was discussed. The adsorbents used are fly ash, nSiO2, and nSiO2/fly ash composite. The results showed that the adsorption of the adsorbents increases with increase in the adsorbent dose, contact time, pH, stirring speed, initial TPT concentration, and decreased with increase in temperature. The adsorption fitted well with the Freundlich isotherm, showing that the adsorbent and TPT combined with function groups and the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The thermodynamic parameters were also evaluated. Optimal conditions for the adsorption of TPT from simulated seawater were applied to TPT removal from natural seawater. A higher removal efficiency of TPT (>99%) was obtained for the nSiO2/fly ash composite but not for fly ash and nSiO2.

Kinetics and equilibrium models for the sorption of tributyltin to nZnO, activated carbon and nZnO/activated carbon composite in artificial seawater.

The removal of tributyltin (TBT) from artificial seawater using nZnO, activated carbon and nZnO/activated carbon composite was systematically studied. The equilibrium and kinetics of adsorption were investigated in a batch adsorption system. Equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models. Pseudo first- and second-order, Elovich, fractional power and intraparticle diffusion models were applied to test the kinetic data. Thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG°, ΔS° and ΔH° were also calculated to understand the mechanisms of adsorption. Optimal conditions for the adsorption of TBT from artificial seawater were then applied to TBT removal from natural seawater. A higher removal efficiency of TBT (>99%) was obtained for the nZnO/activated carbon composite material and for activated carbon but not for nZnO.

Use of mobile phones and cancer risk.

Mobile phones work by transmitting and receiving radio frequency microwave radiation. The radio frequency (RF) emitted by mobile phones is stronger than FM radio signal which are known to cause cancer. Though research and evidence available on the risk of cancer by mobile phones does not provide a clear and direct support that mobile phones cause cancers. Evidence does not also support an association between exposure to radio frequency and microwave radiation from mobile phones and direct effects on health. It is however clear that lack of available evidence of cancer as regards the use of mobile phone should not be interpreted as proof of absence of cancer risk, so that excessive use of mobile phones should be taken very seriously and with caution to prevent cancer.