Severe deterioration in food-energy-ecosystem nexus due to ongoing Russia-Ukraine war: A critical review.

The Russia-Ukraine war is having far-reaching negative impacts on the food-energy-ecosystem nexus and has resulted in an increase in environmental pollution not only in the war-affected regions. The purpose of this review is to critically evaluate the degradation caused by the war and its implications for the food-energy-ecosystem nexus. By examining the specific environmental impacts, this review provides an in-depth understanding of the extent of the damage and its consequences for the interconnected systems of food production, energy supply, and the overall ecosystem. Furthermore, this review addresses the impacts of the ongoing war on the food-energy-ecosystem nexus and underlines the challenges associated with resource recovery in the aftermath of the war. It also highlights the war impacts on the essential commodities' supply chain. Moreover, a plausible strategy for post-war ecosystem restoration has been presented in order to prioritize on the recovery and rejuvenation of the environment. This review also attempts to act as a wake-up call to the urgency of achieving a cease-fire, as the long-term effects of the war would include permanent environmental harm in addition to human and economic losses.

Emerging plastic litter variants: A perspective on the latest global developments.

Plastic litter is one of key reasons of environmental concern due to its adverse effect on ecosystem and health. Exposure of plastic litter to anthropogenic and ecological conditions results in a variety of emerging litter variants that fluctuate in composition, mechanical, and chemical properties. Considering the properties of these plastic litter variants, it is anticipated that the transportation of foreign species or microbial pathogens together with these litter variants is most likely to affect the marine ecosystem. Moreover the plastic litter may enter the plastic cycle or marine biota and can spread across the ocean. Very recently several emerging plastic litter variants such as anthropoquinas, plasticrust, pyroplastic, plastitar, and plastiglomerate have been reported along the coastal areas across the oceans. The purpose of this perspective is to comprehend these emerging plastic litter variants, integrate the latest developments and highlight their adverse effects on the coastal ecosystem. Further, it details the make-up, place of origin, and management strategies for these plastic litter variants.

Kinetics of Aqueous Cu(II) Biosorption onto Thevetia peruviana Leaf Powder.

Copper is an essential micronutrient; however, as a result of its increasing demand, subsequent mining followed by its direct discharge into the environment has led to the contamination of our ecosystem. Thevetia peruviana (TP) is an ornamental herb of medicinal interest and is extensively used as an antipyretic and anticancer agent due to the presence of cardiac glycosides. In this work, we have explored the TP leaf powder as a biosorbent for Cu(II) removal from aqueous media and observed that it yields better results in comparison to other reported biosorbents for the removal of Cu(II). This work also emphasizes on the biosorption kinetics along with its plausible mechanism of interactions. The leaf powder characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy confirmed the diverse surface functionalities including hydroxyl, carbonyl, glycosides, etc. The morphology and elemental composition of the plant material have been investigated using SEM-EDAX analysis that confirms the heterogeneity and porosity of the biosorbent surface. The encouraging results revealed that the TP leaf powder could be used as a cost-effective biosorbent with an adsorption capacity of 187.51 mg g-1 for Cu(II) in aqueous media at pH ∼ 5 and a temperature of 303 K. The complex functionality of the TP surface most likely played a significant role in attaining fast equilibrium within 60 min by following pseudo-second-order kinetics, having a rate constant of 2 × 103 mg g-1 min-1 that has been confirmed with statistical tools such as regression coefficient, chi-squared, and sum of error square tests. The adsorption mechanism is controlled by diffusion of Cu(II) from the liquid phase to the solid phase of the TP biosorbent followed by the chemical interaction between the biosorbent and the adsorbate with slow intraparticle diffusion on the biosorbent surface. The adsorption of Cu(II) on TP has been observed to rise from 59.29 to 197.63 mg g-1 with the rise in the pH of the medium from 2 to 7. The adsorption of Cu(II) has been found to increase from 176.80 to 191.33 mg g-1 with increasing temperature from 293-308 K, confirming the endothermic nature of the adsorption process. The thermodynamic study revealed the adsorption process to be spontaneous with negative ΔG (-10.43 to -13.74 kJ mol-1) and that it has an endothermic nature with positive ΔH (54.24 kJ mol-1). The isotherm study for Cu(II) on TP followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model with the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 303.03 mg g-1 rather than Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models, which confirmed the chemical interaction between the sorbent and sorbate. FT-IR and SEM-EDAX analyses have also been used to confirm the adsorption of Cu(II) onto the TP surface. The present study revealed 99.7% Cu(II) desorption using 0.8 N HCl as the desorbent accompanied by a 69.71% regeneration efficiency of the TP biosorbent. After desorption of Cu(II), the regenerated TP could be disposed of in soil. The encouraging results revealed that TP could be used as an alternative and low-cost biosorbent for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions.

Empirical Modeling of Electron Transport in Fe/Ti Layered Double Hydroxide Using Exponential, Gaussian and Mixed Gauss-Exponential Distribution.

Fe/Ti-layered double hydroxide (LDH) has been hydrothermally prepared and characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for evaluation of its structure, morphology, and optical properties. The purpose of doping Ti4+ with Fe3+ toward the synthesis of Fe/Ti LDH is to extend the absorption of the nanomaterial to longer wavelength, which is known to exhibit higher electron transport performance. To provide a practical realization, electron transport modeling across the band gap has been interpreted using exponential, Gaussian, and mixed Gauss-exponential distribution. The conduction band energy (E C) has been calculated by using the observed values of band gap (E g) and ξ-potential of the LDH. A detailed study has been undertaken to investigate the pattern of theoretical density of the LDH on the basis of unknown (E C = 0) and known (calculated) values of E C. Fermi-Dirac statistics has been used extensively for estimating the occupancy probability of electron (e-)-hole (h+) pair formation within the valence and conduction bands, respectively, with different temperatures, as well as for given energy levels. Monte Carlo simulations have also been performed to evaluate the suitability of the choice of the model, on the basis of the probability of availability of e-s within the conduction band. To provide a practical realization of the suggested models, electronic transition across the band gap of Fe/Ti LDH has been extensively investigated.