Fe-based MOFs as promising adsorbents and photocatalysts for re-use water contained arsenic: Strategies and challenges.

Arsenic (As) contaminated water, especially groundwater reservoirs, is a major issue worldwide owing to its hazardous consequences on human health and the global environment issues. Also, irrigating agricultural fields with As-contaminated water not only produces an accumulation of As in the soil but also compromises food safety due to As entering into agricultural products. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop an efficient method for As removal in water. Fe-based MOFs have attained special attention due to their low toxicity, high water stability, better physical and chemical properties, and high abundance of iron. The arsenic species removal by Fe-MOF follows the adsorption and oxidation mechanism where As (III) converts into As (V). Moreover, the adsorption mechanism is facilitated by electrostatic interactions, H-bonding, acid-base interaction, hydrophobic interactions, van der Waals forces, π-π stacking interactions, and coordinative bindings responsible for Fe-O-As bond generation. This review thoroughly recapitulates and analyses recent advancements in the facile synthesis and potential application of Fe-based MOF adsorbents for the elimination of As ions. The most commonly employed hydro/solvothermal, ultrasonic, microwave-assisted, mechanochemical, and electrochemical synthesis for Fe-MOF has been discussed along with their adsorptive and oxidative mechanisms involved in arsenic removal. The effects of factors like pH and coexisting ions have also been discussed. Lastly, the article also proposed the prospects for developing the application of Fe-based MOF in treating As-contaminated water.

"Long COVID" and Its Impact on The Environment: Emerging Concerns and Perspectives.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented global health and economic crises. The emergence of long COVID-19 has raised concerns about the interplay between SARS-CoV-2 infections, climate change, and the environment. In this context, a concise analysis of the potential long-term effects of the COVID-19 epidemic along with the awareness aboutenvironmental issues are realized. While COVID-19 effects in the short-term have reduced environmental air pollutants and pressures, CO2 emissions are projected to increase as the economy recovers and growth rates return to pre-COVID-19 levels. This review discusses the systematic effects of both the short-term and long-term effects of the pandemic on the clean energy revolution and environmental issues. This article also discusses opportunities to achieve long-term environmental benefits and emphasizes the importance of future policies in promoting global environmental sustainability. Future directions for growth and recovery are presented to cope with long COVID-19 epidemic along with the critical findings focussing on various aspects: waste management, air quality improvement.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) core@shell nanohybrids: Novel nanomaterial support towards environmental sustainability applications.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) based on core@shell nanohybrids have recently received significant attention and have become one of the most promising strategies for improving the stability and catalytic activity of COFs. Compared with traditional core@shell, COF-based core@shell hybrids own remarkable advantages, including size-selective reactions, bifunctional catalysis, and integration of multiple functions. These properties could enhance the stability and recyclability, resistance to sintering, and maximize the electronic interaction between the core and the shell. The activity and selectivity of COF-based core@shell could be simultaneously improved by taking benefit of the existing synergy between the functional encapsulating shell and the covered core material. Considering that, we have highlighted various topological diagrams and the role of COFs in COF-based core@shell hybrid for activity and selectivity enhancement. This concept article provides all-inclusive advances in the design and catalytic applications of COF-based core@shell hybrids. Various synthetic techniques have been developed for the facile tailoring of functional core@shell hybrids, including novel seed growth, in-situ, layer-by-layer, and one-pot method. Importantly, charge dynamics and structure-performance relationships are investigated through different characterization techniques. Different COF-based core@shell hybrids with established synergistic interactions have been detailed, and their influence on stability and catalytic efficiency for various applications is explained and discussed in this contribution. A comprehensive discussion on the remaining challenges associated with COF-based core@shell nanoparticles and research directions has also been provided to deliver insightful ideas for additional future developments.

Rational design, structure properties, and synthesis strategies of dual-pore covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for potent applications: A review.

Dual-pore covalent organic frameworks (COFs) offer a molecular scaffold for introducing building blocks into periodically organized polygonal skeletons to produce fascinating structural features. The rapid development of this material has attracted intensive interest from researchers with diverse expertise. This review selects the leading scientific findings about dual-pore COFs and highlights their functions and perspectives on design, structure properties, and synthesis strategies. Dual-pore COFs, as newly hetero-pore COFs by integrating particular pores into one polygonal skeleton, have been compared to conventional COFs. Dual-pore COFs display hierarchical/heterogeneous porosities and homogeneous porosity, which endow them with exceptional features involving mass diffusion, charge transfer, and large surface area with abundant active sites. Additionally, the strategic dual-pore design by opting for different approaches, such as integration of [D2h + C2] symmetries, kagome-type lattices, and other symmetric arrangements of monomers, are inclusively discussed. Identification and construction of dual-pores in COFs via optimal synthetic methods, such as desymmetrization, multiple linking sites, and orthogonal reactions, are highlighted as the primary pore engineering routes to simultaneously regulate the growth and alter the characteristics of COFs for promising applications. Lastly, a focused discussion on various challenges and critical fundamentals of dual-pore engineering is successfully outlined, with potential prospects of introducing dual-pore in COFs.

Surveillance of omicron variants through wastewater epidemiology: Latest developments in environmental monitoring of pandemic.

WBE has been a monitoring system that can give purposeful and inclusive real-time assessments of civic society as well as environmental health. This concept review introduces WBE as a surveillance scheme and initial warning outbreaks of contagious diseases caused by harmful SARS-CoV-2 with pandemic potential. Examining biomarkers of contagious diseases as evidence in polluted water taken from wastewater treatment plants suggests that these systems can be examined to get epidemiological data for checking the transmission of infectious B.1.1.529 to different areas. Thereafter, various benefits of surveillance are provided to analyse health information and pinpoint different problems that may be occurring in the workstation. Surveillance is followed by intervention steps that improved the work environment and prevent further progression of the disease. This information will help to improve early detection strategies, designing a prevention strategy to reduce their spread, infection control and therapies, thus, strengthening our global preparedness to fight future epidemics. In the end, a comprehensive discussion on the remaining challenges and opportunities for epidemiology has been given for future research perspectives.

Green aspects of photocatalysts during corona pandemic: a promising role for the deactivation of COVID-19 virus.

The selection of a facile, eco-friendly, and effective methodology is the need of the hour for efficient curing of the COVID-19 virus in air, water, and many food products. Recently, semiconductor-based photocatalytic methodologies have provided promising, green, and sustainable approaches to battle against viral activation via the oxidative capabilities of various photocatalysts with excellent performance under moderate conditions and negligible by-products generation as well. Considering this, recent advances in photocatalysis for combating the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are inclusively highlighted. Starting from the origin to the introduction of the coronavirus, the significant potential of photocatalysis against viral prevention and -disinfection is discussed thoroughly. Various photocatalytic material-based systems including metal-oxides, metal-free and advanced 2D materials (MXenes, MOFs and COFs) are systematically examined to understand the mechanistic insights of virus-disinfection in the human body to fight against COVID-19 disease. Also, a roadmap toward sustainable solutions for ongoing COVID-19 contagion is also presented. Finally, the challenges in this field and future perspectives are comprehensively discussed involving the bottlenecks of current photocatalytic systems along with potential recommendations to deal with upcoming pandemic situations in the future.

Current perspective in metal oxide based photocatalysts for virus disinfection: A review.

Nanotechnology holds huge potential for the prevention of various viral outbreaks that have increased at a disquieting rate over the past decades. Metal oxide nanomaterials with oxidative capability are the effective materials that provide platforms as well as tools for the well understanding of the mechanism, its detection, and treatment of various viral diseases like measles, influenza, herpes, ebola, current COVID-19 etc. In this inclusive review, we survey various previous research articles on different notable photoactive transition metal oxides that possess enough potential to act as antiviral agents for the deactivation of harmful viruses. We investigated and highlighted the plausible photocatalytic oxidative mechanism of photoactive transition metal oxides in degrading viral coatings, genomic RNA using suitable free radical generation. The key finding of the present review article including the discovery of a vision on the suitable photocatalytic transition metal oxides that have been proven to be excellent against harmful viruses and consequently combatting deadly CoV-2 in the environment. This review intends to provide conclusive remarks and a realistic outlook on other advanced photocatalytic metal oxides as a potential solution in battling other similar upcoming pandemics.

Emerging architecture titanium carbide (Ti3C2Tx) MXene based photocatalyst toward degradation of hazardous pollutants: Recent progress and perspectives.

MXenes family has aroused marvelous consideration as a frontier photoactive candidate for solar energy transformation and environmental remediation. 2D Ti3C2 exhibit a unique layered microstructure, large surface functional groups (-F, -OH, -O), substantial sorption selectivity, superior reduction efficiency, and electrical conductivity. Electronically conductive Ti3C2Tx with tunable energy band gap (0.92-1.75eV) makes it one of the most potential photoactive materials for photodegradation. The present review paper aims to design cost-effective heterojunctions and Schottky junctions of Ti3C2 with transition metal oxides, sulfides, g-C3N4, and other organic frameworks. The discussion mainly involves different aspects related to its tunable electronic structure, stability problems, and surface morphology control. In addition, the advantages of Ti3C2 in fabricating highly efficient Ti3C2 based catalytic junctions exhibiting suppressed charge carrier recombination are discussed with particular emphasis on their adsorption and redox properties for the removal of toxic dyes, heavy metal ions, and various pharmaceuticals. Finally, current challenges and research directions are outlined and prospected for the future development of Ti3C2 based photocatalytic systems.

Sustainable and green trends in using plant extracts for the synthesis of biogenic metal nanoparticles toward environmental and pharmaceutical advances: A review.

Conventionally utilized physical and chemical routes for constructing nanoparticles are not eco-friendly. They are associated with many shortcomings like the requirement of specially designed equipment, templates, extremely high temperature, and pressure. Biosynthesis seems to be drawn unequivocal attention owing to its upsurge of applications in different fields like; energy, nutrition, pharmaceutical, and medicinal sciences. To harness the biological sources, the present review describes an environment-friendly route to generate biogenic nanoparticles from the natural plant extracts and the followed mechanisms for their synthesis, growth, and stabilization. The present review summarizes the recent trends involved in the photosynthesis of metallic nanoparticles and their effective use in controlling malaria, hepatitis, cancer, like various endemic diseases. Also, various characterization approaches, such as UV-visible spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, are discussed here examine the properties of as-fabricated nanoparticles. Various plant parts like leaves, stems, barks, fruit, and flowers are rich in flavonoids, phenols, steroids, terpenoids, enzymes, and alkaloids, thereby playing an essential role in reducing metal ions that generate metallic nanoparticles. Herein, the uniqueness of phytofabricated nanoparticles along with their distinctive antibacterial, antioxidant, cytotoxic, and drug delivery properties are featured. Lastly, this work highlights the various challenges and future perspectives to further synthesize biogenic metal nanoparticles toward environmental and pharmaceutical advances in the coming years.