Design of biocompatible gelatin hydrogels reinforced with magnetite nanoparticles: Effective removal of chromium from water environment.

The development of biocompatible adsorbents is vital for environmental remediation to control and reduce pollution and waste accumulation in ecosystems. Biocompatible hydrogels represent an innovative class of materials that are primarily composed of polymer chain units forming their structural framework. They have a high affinity for water molecules. This research thus aims to incorporate iron oxide particles into the gelatin matrix to produce gelatin hydrogel beads to remove hexavalent chromium from an aqueous solution. The synthesized beads, known for their consistent size, low friction, high specific surface area, mechanical stability, and lightweight characteristics, demonstrated their suitability for various industrial applications. The effectiveness of these hydrogels in removing hexavalent chromium ions was confirmed through a thorough analysis using techniques such as FTIR, TGA, SEM, EDX, VSM, and XPS. Batch experiments revealed that the gelatin-based nanocomposite beads exhibited optimal adsorption efficiency under acidic conditions, lower initial concentrations of chromium ions, extended contact time, and elevated temperature (50-60 °C). The composite achieved a maximum removal efficiency of 99% at pH 1, with an adsorbent dose of 0.5 g at 50 °C, and an initial concentration of 50 mg per liter. The use of 0.7 N NaOH in the regeneration process resulted in a commendable 70.5% desorption efficiency, enabling potential reuse and regeneration. Significantly, the desorption efficiency remained consistently high even after four desorption-readsorption cycles, contributing to the economic and environmental sustainability of chromium removal. Additionally, the study determined that the sorption process was feasible, spontaneous, and endothermic. These collective findings suggest that magnetic gelatin hydrogel beads could serve as a cost-effective alternative adsorbent for the efficient removal of chromium ions from aqueous solutions.

A censorious review on the role of natural lignocellulosic fiber waste as a low-cost adsorbent for removal of diverse textile industrial pollutants.

BACKGROUND: Textile industries produce fabricated colored products using toxic dyes and other harsh chemicals. It is the responsibility of the textile industries to treat and eliminate these hazardous pollutants. However, due to the growing population demand, the treatment of these hazardous effluents is ineffective and imposes the treatment cost over the end users. The release of partially treated effluents in the environment may cause a severe threat to the ecology and its biota. The critical objective is to treat textile effluents efficiently using agricultural natural fiber waste. Generation of agricultural lignocellulosic fibrous waste increases every year due to growing population demand. Its use in the modern world is limited due to synthetic products. An alternative has enumerated to avoid wastage of fibrous resources and its clean disposal. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this review paper discussed the feasibility of lignocellulosic fibers and other lignocellulosic materials as natural low-cost adsorbent. METHODS: The literature study was performed using Web of Science and Scopus indexed journals. The main factors considered to increase the adsorption ability, including the types of lignocellulosic surface modification techniques were searched with utmost importance for quality results. Intending to summarize the literature survey and provide persuasive content, systematic review process was considered for this novel article. RESULTS: Out of 230 valuable publications, 159 published articles were considered for the present study until March 2022. The articles surplus with factors affecting adsorption (pH, adsorption dosage, surface area, temperature, initial concentration, contact time, physical and chemical properties of pollutants) and surface modification techniques (physical, chemical, and biological) were considered for this manuscript. CONCLUSION: Overall, the physical and chemical modification methods are widely used instead of biological methods due to various factors as discussed briefly. Furthermore, the finding of this article supports the fact that the fibrous by-product resources are wasted in various occasions due to the modern lifestyle. Even though there is evidential possibility to implement the low-cost adsorbents, the industries limit their application prospects due to existing technology and financial compromises.

Analysis and microbial degradation of Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) in Winogradsky column.

Plastic pollution is threatening the world and the life in it. Cost-effective and eco-friendly treatment is the need of the hour. Treating plastics using chemical methods adds up chemicals into the environment with toxic byproducts. The physical method, a slow and expensive process, is not the better alternative. The process should rely on the environmental sources producing eco-friendly byproducts. The byproducts such as biofuel could be utilized for a sustainable environment, but the conversion of plastics into biofuel is expensive. Hence, biodegradation is the better, sustainable, and cost-effective process for plastic/any other pollutant removal. The study focuses on the construction of Winogradsky column using dumpsite soil. The column amended with Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) serves as a carbon source for native microbes. The utilization of microbes in every niche for the degradation enhances the degradation of LDPE. The Otteri soil resulted in 35.4 ± 0.3%, while Kodungaiyur and agriculture soil show 29.7 ± 0.6% and 19.8 ± 0.8%. The AFM analysis shows the disruption of smooth LDPE surface by forming ridges and grooves, which further confirms the occurrence of degradation. The FTIR analysis shows the incorporation of OH, CO, and other CO-O-CO in the CH backbone of LDPE. The oxidation of LDPE will aid in cleavage and result in the process of weathering. The tensile strength decreased after LDPE treatment (23.88 MPa - control, 22.50 MPa - Kodungaiyur, and 14.92 MPa - Otteri). Thus, utilizing the native microbes present in every niche enhances the degradation of pollutants.

Investigation on environmental factors of waste plastics into oil and its emulsion to control the emission in DI diesel engine.

Rapid depletion of conventional fossil fuel resources, their rising prices and environmental issues are the major concern of alternative fuels. On the other hand waste plastics cause a very serious environmental dispute because of their disposal problems. Waste plastics are one of the promising factors for fuel production because of their high heat of combustion and their increasing availability in local communities. In this study, waste plastic oil (WPO) is tested in DI diesel engine to evaluate its performance and emission characteristics. Results showed that oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission get increased with WPO when compared to diesel oil. Further, the three phase (O/W/O) plastic oil emulsion is prepared with an aid of ultrasonicater according to the %v (10, 20 & 30). Results expose that brake thermal efficiency (BTE) is found to be increased. NOx and smoke emissions were reduced up to 247ppm and 41% respectively, when compared to diesel at full load condition with use of 30% emulsified WPO.

Two-step fabrication of cellulose embedded Fe3O4/Fe3+ composite beads as catalyst in degradation of sulfamethoxazole in floating bed reactor.

In this study, magnetite particles were successfully embedded in sodium carboxymethyl cellulose as beads using FeCl3 as the cross-linker in two step-method and it was used as a Fenton-like catalyst to degrade sulfamethoxazole in aqueous solution. The surface morphology and functional groups influence of the Na-CMC magnetic beads was studied using FTIR and SEM analysis. The nature of synthesized iron oxide particles was confirmed as magnetite using XRD diffraction. The structural arrangement of Fe3+ and iron oxide particles with CMC polymer was discussed. The influential factors for SMX degradation efficiency were investigated including the pH of the reaction medium (4.0), catalyst dosage (0.2 g L-1) and initial SMX concentration (30 mg L-1). The results showed that under optimal conditions 81.89% SMX degraded in 40 min using H2O2. The reduction in COD was estimated to be 81.2%. SMX degradation was initiated neither by the cleaving of C-S nor C-N followed by some chemical reactions. Complete mineralization of SMX was not achieved which could be due to an insufficient amount of Fe particles in CMC matrix that are responsible for the generation of *OH radicals. It was explored that degradation followed first order kinetics. Fabricated beads were successfully applied in a floating bed column in which the beads were allowed to float in sewage water spiked with SMX for 40 min. A total reduction of 79% of COD was achieved in treating sewage water. The beads could be used 2-3 times with significant reduction in catalytic activity. It was found that the degradation efficiency was attributed to a stable structure, textural property, active sites and *OH radicals.

Microplastics occurrence, detection and removal with emphasis on insect larvae gut microbiota.

Microplastics have been identified in all living forms including human beings, the present need is to restrain its spread and devise measures to remediate microplastics from polluted ecosystems. In this regard, the present review emphasizes on the occurrence, sources detection and toxic effects of microplastics in various ecosystems. The removal of microplastics is prevalent by various physico-chemical and biological methods, although the removal efficiency by biological methods is low. It has been noted that the degradation of plastics by insect gut larvae is a well-known aspect, however, the underlying mechanism has not been completely identified. Studies conducted have shown the magnificent contribution of gut microbiota, which have been isolated and exploited for microplastic remediation. This review also focuses on this avenue, as it highlights the contribution of insect gut microbiota in microplastic degradation along with challenges faced and future prospects in this area.

Recent advances in polymer composite, extraction, and their application for wastewater treatment: A review.

Wastewater from diverse industrial sectors, agricultural practices and other household activities causes water pollution that result in different environmental issues. The main goals of wastewater treatment are typically to enhance the purity of wastewater and to enable the disposal of domestic and industrial effluents without endangering human health or causing excessive environmental issues. There were several natural and synthetic materials which have been utilized for wastewater treatment, amongst them polymers gain more importance due to their non-toxicity, economic feasibility, abundant availability of sources, renewability, biocompatibility, biodegradability, etc. The organic polymers such as cellulose, chitin, gelatin, alginates, lignin, dextran and other starch derivatives are the most commonly used natural polymers in wastewater treatments. The unique physical and chemical characteristics of the natural polymers make them become an alternative in wastewater treatments such as membrane filtration, adsorption, coagulation, flocculation and ion-exchange process to remove harmful contaminants such as toxic metals, dyes, medicines, pesticides, and so on. The review article discusses natural polymers and related uses in wastewater treatment. This review mainly focused on the wastewater treatment using natural polymers and the techniques involved for their extraction from natural sources. The recent trends in polymer extraction from the natural sources and the scope for the future research of natural polymers in various sectors are also discussed in detail.

Sodium alginate/magnetic hydrogel microspheres from sugarcane bagasse for removal of sulfamethoxazole from sewage water: Batch and column modeling.

Magnetic carbon were synthesized from sugarcane bagasse using hydrothermal carbonization followed by thermal activation was converted to solid state as beads (hydrogels SACFe) using sodium alginate and applied as adsorbent in removal sulfamethoxazole in batch and column mode. From adsorption parameter analysis it was confirmed that 0.6 g L-1 SACFe was effective in removing 50 mg L-1 of SMX at pH 6.2. Sorption of SMX on SACFe beads followed Elovich kinetics and Freundlich isotherm. It was further confirmed that sorption occurred on heterogeneous surface of SACFe beads with chemisorption as rate limiting step. Maximum adsorption capacity was obtained as 58.439 mg g-1 pH studies revealed that charged assisted hydrogen bonding, EDA interactions are some of the mechanism that favoured removal of SMX. From column studies it was found that bead height of 2 cm and flow rate of 1.5 mL min-1 found to be best in removing pollutant. Thomas model fitted better the experimental data stating that improved interaction between adsorbent and adsorbate act as major driving force tool in obtaining maximum sorption capacity. Breakthrough curve was completely affected by varied flow rate and bed height. Column adsorption was effective in reducing COD and BOD levels of sewage which are affected by toxic pollutants and miscellaneous compounds. Feasibility analysis showed that SACFe beads could be employed for real-time applications as it is cost, energy effective and easy recovery.

Cellulase enzyme catalyst producing bacterial strains from vermicompost and its application in low-density polyethylene degradation.

Cellulose is the main polysaccharide present abundantly in the earth, an important substrate for the cellulase enzyme. Cellulases have attracted considerable attention due to its diverse application in different textile, detergent, leather, food, feed and paper industries. Among the cellulase producing microbes, bacteria have a faster growth compared to other microbes. The present study focuses on isolating bacterial strains (Bacillus pacificus and Pseudomonas mucidolens) from vermicompost. The study focused on extracting cellulase enzyme and its molecular weight using SDS-PAGE, which was determined to be 32Kda. The maximum enzyme activity resulted to be 0.12 U/mL and 0.17 U/mL after dialysis. The LDPE degradation was reported up to 30 days. Further, the growth conditions of the bacterial strains were optimised at different pH and temperature. The degradation of LDPE was determined using FTIR analysis, resulting in the peak changes (formation and shifts). The bacterial strains were morphologically characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The bacterial strains Bacillus pacificus and Pseudomonas mucidolens were identified using 16 S rRNA sequencing.

A review on synthesis methods and recent applications of nanomaterial in wastewater treatment: Challenges and future perspectives.

Freshwater has been incessantly polluted by various activities such as rapid industrialization, fast growth of population and agricultural activities. Water pollution is considered as one the major threatens to human health and aquatic bodies which causes various severe harmful diseases including gastrointestinal disorders, asthma, cancer, etc. The polluted wastewater could be treated by different conventional and advanced methodologies. Amongst them, adsorption is the most utilized low cost, efficient technique to treat and remove the harmful pollutants from the wastewater. The efficiency of adsorption mainly depends on the surface properties such as functional group availability and surface area of the adsorbents used. Since various waste-based carbon derivatives are utilized as adsorbents for harmful pollutants removal; nanomaterials are employed as effective adsorbents in recent times due to its excellent surface properties. This review presents an overview of the different types of nanomaterials such as nano-particles, nanotubes, nano-sheets, nano-rods, nano-spheres, quantum dots, etc. which have been synthesized by different chemical and green synthesis methodologies using plants, microorganisms, biomolecules and carbon derivatives, metals and metal oxides and polymers. By concentrating on potential research difficulties, this study offers a new viewpoint on fundamental field of nanotechnology for wastewater treatment applications. This review paper critically reviewed the synthesis of nanomaterials more importantly green synthesis and their applications in wastewater treatment to remove the harmful pollutants such as heavy metals, dyes, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, etc.

Laccase production by Pleurotus ostreatus using cassava waste and its application in remediation of phenolic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-contaminated lignocellulosic biorefinery wastewater.

The treatment of contaminants from lignocellulosic biorefinery effluent has recently been identified as a unique challenge. This study focuses on removing phenolic contaminants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from lignocellulosic biorefinery wastewater (BRW) applying a laccase-assisted approach. Cassava waste was used as a substrate to produce the maximum yield of laccase enzyme (3.9 U/g) from Pleurotus ostreatus. Among the different inducers supplemented, CuSO4 (0.5 mM) showed an eight-fold increase in enzyme production (30.8 U/g) after 240 h of incubation. The catalytic efficiency of laccase was observed as 128.7 ± 8.47 S-1mM-1 for syringaldazine oxidation at optimum pH 4.0 and 40 °C. Laccase activity was completely inhibited by lead (II) ion, mercury (II) ion, sodium dodecyl sulphate, sodium azide and 1,4 dithiothretiol and induced significantly by manganese (II) ion and rhamnolipid. After treating BRW with laccase, the concentrations of PAHs and phenolic contaminants of 1144 µg/L and 46160 µg/L were reduced to 96 µg/L and 16100 µg/L, respectively. The ability of laccase to effectively degrade PAHs in the presence of different phenolic compounds implies that phenolic contaminants may play a role in PAHs degradation. After 240 h, organic contaminants were removed from BRW in the following order: phenol >2,4-dinitrophenol > 2-methyl-4,6-dinitrophenol > 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol > acenaphthene > fluorine > phenanthrene > fluoranthene > pyrene > anthracene > chrysene > naphthalene > benzo(a)anthracene > benzo(a)pyrene > benzo(b)fluoranthene > pentachlorophenol > indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene > benzo(j) fluoranthene > benzo[k]fluoranthène. The multiple contaminant remediation from the BRW by enzymatic method, clearly suggests that the laccase can be used as a bioremediation tool for the treatment of wastewater from various industries.

Recent trends and advancements in nanoporous membranes for water purification.

When it comes to electrocatalysis, the creation of nanodevices, the research of energy and the environment, and diagnostics, nanoporous materials are an asset. Nanoporous membranes, which can be used to filter water, have recently been the subject of new research and are summarized in this review. These membranes are used to remove salts and metallic ions from the water following an analysis of several nanoporous membrane types and production procedures. Demonstrations and discussions of these membrane systems are then conducted. Nanoporous membranes can be used to filter water, according to the conclusions of this study, which will help readers better grasp how they work. As a result, novel water purification nanoporous compounds that are easy to manufacture, inexpensive, and effective will be developed. Merits and demerits of nanoporous membrane for water treatment and its advancements in purification were discussed.

Enhanced adsorptive removal of sulfamethoxazole from water using biochar derived from hydrothermal carbonization of sugarcane bagasse.

This research work primarily focussed on the production of biochar from sugarcane bagasse through HTC followed by NaOH activation at inert atmosphere for removing SMX from water. The biochar was characterized for structural morphology and presence of functional groups. XRD and FTIR analysis confirmed that presence of aromatized graphitic structure accumulated with oxygenated functional groups are responsible for the elimination of SMX. SEM analysis portrayed the sphere-shaped structure of biochar with hydrophobic groups interior and hydrophilic groups exterior. BET isotherm revealed the active surface area equal to 1099 m2/g with high coverage of mesopores structure. Pzpc of adsorbent is evaluated to 6.5 stating that effective removal of SMX depends on ionization effects induced due to reaction medium. Kinetics study revealed the sorption of SMX followed chemical interaction pertaining to Elovich model. Isotherm studies revealed that Freundlich model fitted well stating heterogeneous mode of interaction. Immobilization of SMX on surface of ABC is due to charge assisted hydrogen bonding and π-π interaction with graphitized carbon, showing maximum sorption capacity of 400 mg/g through spontaneous reaction. The results suggested that HTC derived biochar had great adsorption affinity with respect to pH towards SMX and could be employed as an effective sorbent in cleaning water contaminants.

Application of biomass derived products in mid-size automotive industries: A review.

The automotive industry is directly affected by the shortage of fossil fuels and the excessive pollution resulting from crude oil-based fuels has many adverse effects on the environment. The search for a greener and sustainable source of materials and fuels to power automobiles has ultimately led to the usage of biomass and biobased sources as the main precursor due to its graft availability and renewability. Biobased fuels developed have been shown to easily blend in with the existing automobile engines and to provide sustainable performance. Similarly, the usage of various biobased polymers, plastics, and composite materials as the structural materials for the construction of automobiles instead of crude oil sources have shown to be invaluable. The powering of automobiles with electricity is the future of the transportation industry to address the greenhouse gas emissions caused by fossil fuels. Hence, biobased lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors have started to enter the mid-sized automotive industry. However, extensive commercialization of biobased products application in the automotive sector is underdeveloped. Hence it is customary to assess the various drawbacks of using biobased materials and identify the correct pathway for new research and development in this field. Therefore, this review covers various applications of biobased products in the automotive industries and mentions the active researches going on in this field to replace petroleum and crude oil-based sources with biobased sources.

Synthesis of CdS and alloyed CdMnS nanocrystals using aqueous foams.

Certain surfactant-stabilized aqueous foams provide a potentially efficient and simple chemical route for the synthesis of various nanomaterials with controllable structure, size, and shape. In the present work, a one-step process for the synthesis of CdS and Cd1-xMn(x)S (0 < x < 10) nanocrystals has been described. Aqueous CdCl2 and the aerosol-OT solutions are homogeneously mixed together and thereafter, nitrogen is bubbled through this solution to produce stable aqueous foam. After drainage of the foam, the freestanding dry foam consisting of cadmium cations electrostatically complexed with the anionic aerosol-OT molecules at the liquid-gas interface is treated with H2S vapor. The foam turns yellowish-orange and collapses, in the process yielding CdS nanoclusters of variable morphology. This morphology variation is appropriately attributed to growth of the CdS as well as alloyed Cd1-xMn(x)S nanoparticles in different regions of the foam contributing to the varying topological structure. Optical absorption spectra of both CdS and Cd1-xMn(x)S nanoparticles clearly show a well-defined exciton absorption feature around 450 nm due to quantum confinement effects. The interesting band edge emission characteristics of these AOT-capped CdS and Cd1-xMn(x)S nanoparticles produced in the foam are discussed with respect to their size and shape. Particular interest in the present novel aqueous foam approach arises due to the fact that the cubic zincblende CdS and alloyed Cd1-xMn(x)S nanocrystals could easily be obtained even under ambient experimental conditions itself.