RESUMO
As the world strives to achieve a sustainable future, the exploration of alternative and renewable raw materials for energy storage and energy conversion has gained significant attention. A growing trend on "Waste to Energy" approach has attained prominence. Accordingly, chicken eggshells, a residual from poultry industry, have emerged as a promising candidate due to their abundant availability, low cost, and unique physical and chemical properties. This review article presents an overview of recent advancements in utilizing eggshell waste for energy storage and energy conversion applications. It discusses the transformation of eggshells usage into functional materials, along with their performance in various energy-related applications. The potential of eggshell-based materials in improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact is highlighted, providing insights into the future prospects of this sustainable resource.
RESUMO
In this work, silver nanoparticles have been synthesized with an average particle size of 35 nm, within 90s, using microwave and Sapindus mukorossi extract as a stabilizing agent. The AgNps were surface immobilized on eggshells (ES) to obtain Ag@ES, which was characterized by UV-Vis, UV-DRS, FT-IR, ICP-OES, TGA-DSC, SEM-EDX, XRD and XPS. Its applicability as an environmental catalyst was evaluated by Cr (VI) adsorption, photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange, eriochrome black-T, methylene blue, rhodamine-B as model dyes and microbial inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. The results revealed that Ag@ES exhibited maximum adsorption capacity of 93 mg/g for Cr (VI) ion and degradation efficiency of ~90-98% for removing anionic and cationic dyes. Further, it showed a minimum inhibitory concentration of 15.6, 7.8 and 31.2 µg/mL for S. aureus, E. coli and C. albicans respectively. Moreover, the Ag@ES being a heterogeneous catalyst can be regenerated and reused without significant loss in its efficiency.