Amaranthus hybridus waste solid biofuel: comparative and machine learning studies.

The diminishing supply of fossil fuels, their detrimental environmental effects, and the challenges associated with the disposal of agro-waste necessitated the development of renewable and sustainable alternative energy sources. This study aims at developing bio-briquettes from Amaranthus hybridus waste, with cassava starch as a binder; both are agricultural wastes. Before and following delignification, alkali-treated Amaranthus hybridus (TAHB) and untreated (UAHB) briquettes were evaluated in terms of combustion and physicochemical parameters. FTIR and SEM were utilized to monitor the morphological transformation and bond restructuring of TAHB and UAHB samples. EDXRF was used to assess the Potential Toxic Elements (PTEs) composition and environmental friendliness of both TAHB and UAHB. Furthermore, Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering machine learning models were used to optimize the production process and predict the efficiency of bio-briquettes. After delignification, a lower lignin value of 11.47 ± 0.00% in TAHB compared to 12.31 ± 0.01% (UAHB) was recorded. Calorific values of 10.43 ± 0.25 MJ kg-1 (UAHB) and 12.53 ± 0.30 MJ kg-1 (TAHB) were recorded at p < 0.05. EDXRF results showed a difference of 0.016% in Pb concentration in both samples. SEM reveals morphological restructuring, while FTIR reveals a 4 cm-1 difference in the C-O stretch. The root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and mean absolute error (MAE) gave values of 0.0249, 2.104, and, 0.0249; (MAE, training) and 0.0223 (MAE, testing) respectively. This shows that the model's predictions match the reality, thereby suggesting a strong agreement between the predicted and experimental data. The finding of this study shows that delignification-disruption improved the solid biofuel's ability to burn cleanly and sustainably.

Thermally modified nanocrystalline snail shell adsorbent for methylene blue sequestration: equilibrium, kinetic, thermodynamic, artificial intelligence, and DFT studies.

In recent years, the quest for an efficient and sustainable adsorbent material that can effectively remove harmful and hazardous dyes from industrial effluent has become more intense. The goal is to explore the capability of thermally modified nanocrystalline snail shells (TMNSS) as a new biosorbent for removing methylene blue (MB) dye from contaminated wastewater. TMNSS was employed in batch adsorption experiments to remove MB dye from its solutions, taking into account various adsorption parameters such as contact time, temperature, pH, adsorbent dosage, and initial concentration. SEM, EDS, XRD, and FTIR were used to characterize the adsorbent. The study further developed and adopted adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and density functional theory (DFT) studies to holistically examine the adsorption process of MB onto the adsorbent. EDX and FTIR confirm the formation of CaO with a sharp peak at 547 cm-1, and C-O and O-H are present, as well. SEM and XRD show an irregularly shaped highly crystalline nanosized (65 ± 2.81 nm) particle with a lattice parameter value of 8.611617 Å. The adsorption efficiency of 96.48 ± 0.58% was recorded with a pH of 3.0 and an adsorbent dose of 10 mg at 30 °C. The findings from the study fit nicely onto Freundlich isotherms, with Qm = 31.7853 mg g-1 and R2 = 0.9985. Pseudo-second-order kinetics recorded the least error value of 0.8792 and R2 = 0.9868, thus indicating chemisorption and multilayer adsorption processes. The exothermic and spontaneous nature of the adsorption process are demonstrated by ΔH° and ΔG°. The performance of the ANFIS-based prediction of removal rate, which was demonstrated by a root mean square error (RMSE) value of 2.2077, mean absolute deviation (MAD) value of 1.1429, mean absolute error (MAE) value of 1.8786, and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) value of 2.0178, revealed that the ANFIS model predictions and experimental findings are in good agreement. More so, DFT provides insights into the molecular interactions between MB and the adsorbent surface, with a calculated adsorbate-adsorbent binding affinity value of -1.3 kcal mol-1, thus confirming the ability of TMNSS for MB sequestration. The findings of this study highlight the promising potential of thermally modified nanocrystalline snail shells as sustainable and efficient adsorbents for MB sequestration.

Adsorptive removal of antibiotic pollutants from wastewater using biomass/biochar-based adsorbents.

This study explores adsorptive removal measures to shed light on current water treatment innovations for kinetic/isotherm models and their applications to antibiotic pollutants using a broad range of biomass-based adsorbents. The structure, classifications, sources, distribution, and different techniques for the remediation of antibiotics are discussed. Unlike previous studies, a wide range of adsorbents are covered and adsorption of comprehensive classes of antibiotics onto biomass/biochar-based adsorbents are categorized as ß-lactam, fluoroquinolone, sulfonamide, tetracycline, macrolides, chloramphenicol, antiseptic additives, glycosamides, reductase inhibitors, and multiple antibiotic systems. This allows for an assessment of their performance and an understanding of current research breakthroughs in applying various adsorbent materials for antibiotic removal. Distinct from other studies in the field, the theoretical basis of different isotherm and kinetics models and the corresponding experimental insights into their applications to antibiotics are discussed extensively, thereby identifying the associated strengths, limitations, and efficacy of kinetics and isotherms for describing the performances of the adsorbents. In addition, we explore the regeneration of adsorbents and the potential applications of the adsorbents in engineering. Lastly, scholars will be able to grasp the present resources employed and the future necessities for antibiotic wastewater remediation.

Microplastics toxicity, detection, and removal from water/wastewater.

The world has witnessed massive and preeminent microplastics (MPs) pollution in water bodies due to the inevitable continuous production of plastics for various advantageous chemical and mechanical features. Plastic pollution, particularly contamination by MPs (plastic particles having a diameter lesser than 5 mm), has been a rising environmental concern in recent years due to the inappropriate disposal of plastic trash. This study presents the recent advancements in different technologies for MPs removal in order to gain proper insight into their strengths and weaknesses, thereby orchestrating the preparation for innovation in the field. The production, origin, and global complexity of MPs were discussed. This study also reveals MPs' mode of transportation, its feedstock polymers, toxicities, detection techniques, and the conventional removal strategies of MPs from contaminated systems. Modification of conventional methods vis-à-vis new materials/techniques and other emerging technologies, such as magnetic extraction and sol-gel technique with detailed mechanistic information for the removal of MPs are presented in this study. Conclusively, some future research outlooks for advancing the MPs removal technologies/materials for practical realization are highlighted.