Advancements of Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials in Environmental and Human Protection for Combatting the COVID-19 During and Post-pandemic Era: A Comprehensive Scientific Review.

In December 2019, an outbreak of unknown pneumonia emerged in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. It was later identified as the SARS-CoV-2 virus and has since infected over 9 million people in more than 213 countries worldwide. Massive papers on the topic of SARS-CoV-2 that have already been published are necessary to be analyzed and discussed. This paper used the combination of systematic literature network analysis and content analysis to develop a comprehensive discussion related to the use of nanotechnology and materials in environmental and human protection. Its is shown that various efforts have been made to control the transmission of this pandemic. Nanotechnology plays a crucial role in modern vaccine design, as nanomaterials are essential tools for antigen delivery, adjuvants, and mimics of viral structures. In addition, nanomaterials and nanotechnology also reported a crucial role in environmental protection for defence and treating the pandemic. To eradicate pandemics now and in the future, successful treatments must enable rapid discovery, scalable manufacturing, and global distribution. In this review, we discuss the current approaches to COVID-19 development and highlight the critical role of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in combating the virus in the human body and the environment.

A comprehensive review of domestic-open waste burning: recent trends, methodology comparison, and factors assessment.

Open burning is a waste management practice performed by many people worldwide, especially in developing countries. Lack of detailed data of open burning practices may lead to a misinterpretation during data analysis, especially when estimating global/local emissions and assessing risks. This study presents a comprehensive review of current research trends, methodological assessments, and factors behind open waste burning practices from published literature. This review used systematic methods such as PRISMA 2020 methodology, a bibliometric approach, and qualitative content analysis to determine and assess 84 articles related to open burning. The results show that environmental risks and emission factors related to open burning incidents at the landfill or residential level are preferable topics that will be rising in the years to come. Coupling methods such as a transect-based approach with a questionnaire survey and mobile-static plume sampling to determine the activities and incidents as baseline data for risk assessment will help researchers gain a robust dataset of open burning emission inventory. In addition, it was found that environmental knowledge and awareness levels influence open burning practices, thereby opening up opportunities for future research. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10163-022-01430-9.

Activity and emission inventory of open waste burning at the household level in developing countries: a case study of Semarang City.

In this study, total burned household waste and the potential emissions released from waste burning in Semarang City, Indonesia, were estimated. Waste piles were monitored using the transect walk survey method in 16 sub-districts of Semarang City. Carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbon (HC), nitrous oxide (NOx), and total particulate matter (TPM) were directly analyzed through a simulation of waste combustion. The potential emissions from other pollutants were predicted by multiplying the weight of the burned waste by the emission factors available in the literature. The estimated waste burned in Semarang City in 2020-2021 was 58.8 Gg/year, or approximately 9.70% of the total waste generated in Semarang City. This estimation exceeds local government estimates of 2020 by two-fold. Peri-urban areas (both inner and outer) were identified as the most significant contributors to waste burning. Further, garden waste was the most burned waste (73.61%), followed by plastic waste (17.45%). Other wastes, including paper, leather, textile, rubber, and food, were also burned. Overall, a decrease in the activity of waste burning is an important step for reducing the potential of air pollution and climate change. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10163-022-01371-3.

Waste valorization using solid-phase microbial fuel cells (SMFCs): Recent trends and status.

This review article discusses the use of solid waste processed in solid-phase microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) as a source of electrical energy. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are typically operated in the liquid phase because the ion transfer process is efficient in liquid media. Nevertheless, some researchers have considered the potential for MFCs in solid phases (particularly for treating solid waste). This has promise if several important factors are optimized, such as the type and amount of substrate, microorganism community, system configuration, and type and number of electrodes, which increases the amount of electricity generated. The critical factor that affects the SMFC performance is the efficiency of electron and proton transfer through solid media. However, this limitation may be overcome by electrode system enhancements and regular substrate mixing. The integration of SMFCs with other conventional solid waste treatments could be used to produce sustainable green energy. Although SMFCs produce relatively small amounts of energy compared with other waste-to-energy treatments, SMFCs are still promising to achieve zero-emission treatment. Therefore, this article addresses the challenges and fills the gaps in SMFC research and development.

An overview of electrokinetic soil flushing and its effect on bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated soil.

Combination of electrokinetic soil flushing and bioremediation (EKSF-Bio) technology has attracted many researchers attention in the last few decades. Electrokinetic is used to increase biodegradation rate of microorganisms in soil pores. Therefore, it is necessary to use solubilizing agents such as surfactants that can improve biodegradation process. This paper describes the basic understanding and recent development associated with electrokinetic soil flushing, bioremediation, and its combination as innovative hybrid solution for treating hydrocarbon contaminated soil. Surfactant has been widely used in many studies and practical applications in remediation of hydrocarbon contaminant, but specific review about those combination technology cannot be found. Surfactants and other flushing/solubilizing agents have significant effects to increase hydrocarbon remediation efficiency. Thus, this paper is expected to provide clear information about fundamental interaction between electrokinetic, flushing agents and bioremediation, principal factors, and an inspiration for ongoing and future research benefit.