Carrageenan derived polyelectrolyte complexes material: An effective bifunctional for electrochemical sensing of sulfamethazine and antibacterial activity.

Biopolymer-derived polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) are a class of materials that have emerged as promising candidates for developing advanced electrochemical sensors due to their tunable properties, biocompatibility, cost-effective production, and high surface area. PECs are formed by combining positively and negatively charged polymers, resulting in a network with intriguing properties that can be tailored for specific sensing applications. The resultant PECs-based nanocomposites were used to modify the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to detect the sulfamethazine (SFZ) antibiotic drug. In addition, electrochemical studies using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) are used to evaluate the SFZ detection ability. Similarly, various microscopic and spectroscopic studies investigated the nano composite's structural features and morphological behavior. The κ-CGN/P(Am-co-DMDAAc)-GO modified GCE demonstrated excellent detection ability of SFZ with the nano molar range and without interference with similar structural components. Furthermore, the newly fabricated electrode κ-CGN/P(Am-co-DMDAAc)-GO was derived from naturally available materials, water-soluble, low cost, biocompatible, exhibits good conductivity, and excellent catalytic properties. Finally, κ-CGN/P(Am-co-DMDAAc)-GO- modified GCE has versatile, practical applications for detecting SFZ in real-time samples and determining the efficacy of an antibacterial activity.

Tailored fabrication of biodegradable polymer/ Fe3O4 doped WO3 nano star-based porous membrane with enhanced photo fentonic activity for environmental remediation.

The accelerated development of special-wetting polymeric materials with hierarchical pores for membrane applications is crucial to effectively separating water-soluble and insoluble pollutants, such as oily wastewater, emulsion, organic pollutants, and heavy metals. This pressing environmental and socioeconomic issue requires the implementation of effective remediation technologies. In this study, we successfully fabricated an environmentally friendly membrane with a flexible property by combining biopolymers and magnetic nanohybrids of iron oxide (Fe3O4)-doped tungsten oxide (WO3) through a thermal-induced phase separation process (TIPS). The resulting membrane exhibited a well-defined 3D-interconnected porous network structure when blending poly (ε-caprolactone)/poly (D,L-lactide) (PCL)/(PDLLA) in an 8:2 volume ratio. The Fe3O4@WO3 nanohybrids were synthesized using a hydrothermal process, resulting in a star-shaped morphology from the sea urchin-like WO3 clusters, which showed great potential to efficiently separate water/oil contamination and facilitate visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes (MB, Rh B, BY, and CR) and photoreduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)). The obtained PCL/PDLLA/Fe3O4@WO3 nanocomposite membrane demonstrated hydrophobic properties, showing a water contact angle of 95 ± 2° and an excellent oil adsorption capacity of ∼4-4.5 g/g without fouling. The interconnected porous structure of the composite membrane enabled the efficient separation of emulsions (≥99.4 %) and achieved a high permeation flux of up to 1524 L m-2 h-1 under gravity separation. Overall, we obtained a novel high-performance composite material with specialized wetting properties, offering significant potential for effectively removing insoluble and soluble organic contaminants from wastewater.

Current scenario of solid waste management techniques and challenges in Covid-19 - A review.

Annually, world generates 2.01 billion tonnes of solid wastes and it is expected to generate 2.2 billion tonnes of solid waste by 2025. Globally double the amount of waste generation was anticipated by 2050, hence an urgent action is required for this intricate problem in adopting better management techniques and recycling strategies. Unfortunately, poor management of wastes causes vulnerable effects to the society in terms of health. Waste management is the key infrastructure to be developed in society, but so far it is not recognized as much in many developing countries. Significant innovations and improvements are made in the last few decades globally, but still 2 to 3 billion people around the world lack access to waste collection services. The aim of this present study is to give an overview of different types of waste techniques that are effectively followed by different countries and the action plans need to follow. This review focuses on the global current scenario of waste generation, and its management methods with relevant literatures providing the upgrades in the phases of waste management services like collection and transport, various techniques adopted for waste management, policies and legislation, countries investment in waste management process and the impact of solid waste management during Covid-19. Collectively we conclude that Asian countries need to allot more fund for handling solid waste. Also with the available waste management technique, it is not possible to achieve zero waste. Therefore, more new techniques are needed to be adapted.