A molecular extraction process for vanadium based on tandem selective complexation and precipitation.

Recycling vanadium from alternative sources is essential due to its expanding demand, depletion in natural sources, and environmental issues with terrestrial mining. Here, we present a complexation-precipitation method to selectively recover pentavalent vanadium ions, V(V), from complex metal ion mixtures, using an acid-stable metal binding agent, the cyclic imidedioxime, naphthalimidedioxime (H2CIDIII). H2CIDIII showed high extraction capacity and fast binding towards V(V) with crystal structures showing a 1:1 M:L dimer, [V2(O)3(C12H6N3O2)2]2-, 1, and 1:2 M:L non-oxido, [V(C12H6N3O2)2] ̶ complex, 2. Complexation selectivity studies showed only 1 and 2 were anionic, allowing facile separation of the V(V) complexes by pH-controlled precipitation, removing the need for solid support. The tandem complexation-precipitation technique achieved high recovery selectivity for V(V) with a selectivity coefficient above 3 × 105 from synthetic mixed metal solutions and real oil sand tailings. Zebrafish toxicity assay confirmed the non-toxicity of 1 and 2, highlighting H2CIDIII's potential for practical and large-scale V(V) recovery.

Photocatalytic Degradation of 4-Nitrophenol by C, N-TiO2: Degradation Efficiency vs. Embryonic Toxicity of the Resulting Compounds.

The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 based photocatalysts can be improved by structural modification and elemental doping. In this study, through rational design, one type of carbon and nitrogen co-doped TiO2 (C, N-TiO2) photocatalyst with mesoporous structure was synthesized with improved photocatalytic activity in degrading 4-nitrophenol under simulated sunlight irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the C, N-TiO2 was much higher than the anatase TiO2 (A-TiO2) based on absorbance and HPLC analyses. Moreover, using zebrafish embryos, we showed that the intermediate degradation compounds generated by photocatalytic degradation of 4-nitrophenol had higher toxicity than the parent compound. A repeated degradation process was necessary to render complete degradation and non-toxicity to the zebrafish embryos. Our results demonstrated the importance of evaluating the photocatalytic degradation efficiency in conjunction with the toxicity assessment of the degradation compounds.

Oil refinery wastewater treatment in the Niger Delta, Nigeria: current practices, challenges, and recommendations.

The extensive oil exploration has led to a series of environmental issues in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, over the years. Aside from oil spill, insufficient wastewater treatment of oil refineries and the discharged effluents become another potential source of pollution that has not received enough attention from the government and the public. Through reviewing the current oil refinery wastewater treatment processes and the discharge standards of wastewater effluents in Nigeria, we aimed to raise the awareness of the shortcomings of the current wastewater treatment technology and to discuss the consequences of insufficient treatment to the environment. This article further discussed the use of nanotechnology as a potential upgrade to the conventional treatment technologies as it has shown its capacity of removing persistent organic pollutants (POPs) or converting hazardous components to environmentally friendly derivatives. It should also prove beneficial to the key stakeholders involved in the exploration of crude oil in the region to consider optimization of oil refinery wastewater treatment processes through integration of emerging technologies.