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IJERPH
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Application of Nanocomposites in the Environment
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Application of Nanocomposites in the Environment

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 16403

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Aneta Michna

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Guest Editor
Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry Polish Academy of Sciences, PL-30239 Krakow, Poland
Interests: biocompatible polyelectrolyte films; polysaccharides, biomaterials; application of electrokinetic techniques for determination of the properties of nanocomposites; binding proteins to polyelectrolyte multilayers; determination of the stability of polyelectrolyte mono- and multilayers; determination of the physicochemical properties of polyelectrolytes in bulk
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Maria Morga

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Guest Editor
Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry Polish Academy of Sciences, PL-30239 Krakow, Poland
Interests: preparation and characterization of mono-, bi-, and multilayers of macroions and nanoparticles; mechanisms of macroion and nanoparticle adsorption; kinetics adsorption and desorption of macromolecules and nanoparticles; macroion adsorption at homogeneous and heterogeneous surfaces; stability of monolayers and bilayers composed of macromolecules and nanoparticles; biocompatibility of composed layered materials; electrokinetic potential at solid/liquid interfaces; streaming potential at solid/liquid interfaces; layer by layer deposition of colloidal particles; polypeptides and their monolayers; nanoparticles/macroions composite material; biological applications of macromolecules and nanoparticles
Dr. Dominik Kosior

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Interests: adsorption phenomena on solid/liquid and liquid/gas interfaces; mechanism of multilayer formation on solid/liquid interface; kinetic of macromolecules and nanoparticles deposition on solid/liquid interface; mobility of liquid/gas interface; characterization of modified solid/liquid interfaces; interactions in like-charged and oppositely charged interfaces in colloidal systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Technology development, population growth, and overconsumption contribute to continuous environmental degradation, which has an impact on human health, loss of biodiversity, ozone layer depletion, economy, etc. Progressive environmental degradation is dangerous not only for humans but also for the entire ecosystem. The damage caused by environmental degradation is mostly irreversible or will take hundreds of years to fix. Therefore, environmental protection is extremely important. Nanocomposite-based polyelectrolytes, metal nanoparticles, and metal oxide nanoparticles possess an unusual ability to bind impurities; thus, in the environment, they are wildly applied for the treatment of contaminants and sensing and detection pollutants. These nanomaterials are also used as effective platforms for adsorption of impurities and the controlled release of bioactive substances.

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) is focused on the determination of the key properties of smart biocompatible nanomaterials based on polyelectrolyte mono- and multilayers, how these composites can be applied in environmental protection, detailing major environmental issues, as well as analysis of potential future applications of these composites. Research papers, reviews, and conference reports from a broad range of scientific disciplines devoted to these research goals are welcome to this Special Issue.

Dr. Aneta Michna
Dr. Maria Morga
Dr. Dominik Kosior
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Polyelectrolyte mono- and multilayers
  • Polyelectrolyte films
  • Metal/polyelectrolyte composite formation
  • Stability of nanocomposites
  • Adsorption of contaminants
  • Control releasing of the biomolecules
  • Metal/metal oxide multilayers

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4589 KiB  
Article
Amino Acid Complexes of Zirconium in a Carbon Composite for the Efficient Removal of Fluoride Ions from Water
by Efrén González-Aguiñaga, José Antonio Pérez-Tavares, Rita Patakfalvi, Tamás Szabó, Erzsébet Illés, Héctor Pérez Ladrón de Guevara, Pablo Eduardo Cardoso-Avila, Jesús Castañeda-Contreras and Quetzalcoatl Enrique Saavedra Arroyo
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(6), 3640; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19063640 - 18 Mar 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1886
Abstract
Amino acid complexes of zirconia represent an entirely new class of materials that were synthesized and studied for the first time for the decontamination of fluoride ion containing aqueous solutions. Glutamic and aspartic acid complexes of zirconia assembled with thin carbon (stacked graphene [...] Read more.
Amino acid complexes of zirconia represent an entirely new class of materials that were synthesized and studied for the first time for the decontamination of fluoride ion containing aqueous solutions. Glutamic and aspartic acid complexes of zirconia assembled with thin carbon (stacked graphene oxide) platelets deriving from graphite oxide (GO) were synthesized by a two-step method to prepare adsorbents. The characterization of the complexes was carried out using infrared spectroscopy to determine the functional groups and the types of interaction between the composites and fluoride ions. To reveal the mechanisms and extent of adsorption, two types of batch adsorption measurements were performed: (i) varying equilibrium fluoride ion concentrations to construct adsorption isotherms at pH = 7 in the absence of added electrolytes and (ii) using fixed initial fluoride ion concentrations (10 mg/L) with a variation of either the pH or the concentration of a series of salts that potentially interfere with adsorption. The experimental adsorption isotherms were fitted by three different theoretical isotherm equations, and they are described most appropriately by the two-site Langmuir model for both adsorbents. The adsorption capacities of Zr-glutamic acid-graphite oxide and Zr-aspartic acid-graphite oxide are 105.3 and 101.0 mg/g, respectively. We found that two distinct binding modes are combined in the Zr-amino acid complexes: at low solution concentrations, F− ions are preferentially adsorbed by coordinating to the surface Zr species up to a capacity of ca. 10 mg/g. At higher concentrations, however, large amounts of fluoride ions may undergo anion exchange processes and physisorption may occur on the positively charged ammonium moieties of the interfacially bound amino acid molecules. The high adsorption capacity and affinity of the studied dicarboxylate-type amino acids demonstrate that amino acid complexes of zirconia are highly variable materials for the safe and efficient capture of strong Lewis base-type ions such as fluoride. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Nanocomposites in the Environment)
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17 pages, 3678 KiB  
Article
Poly-L-Arginine Molecule Properties in Simple Electrolytes: Molecular Dynamic Modeling and Experiments
by Maria Morga, Piotr Batys, Dominik Kosior, Piotr Bonarek and Zbigniew Adamczyk
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(6), 3588; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19063588 - 17 Mar 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1837
Abstract
Physicochemical properties of poly-L-arginine (P-Arg) molecules in NaCl solutions were determined by molecular dynamics (MD) modeling and various experimental techniques. Primarily, the molecule conformations, the monomer length and the chain diameter were theoretically calculated. These results were used to interpret experimental data, which [...] Read more.
Physicochemical properties of poly-L-arginine (P-Arg) molecules in NaCl solutions were determined by molecular dynamics (MD) modeling and various experimental techniques. Primarily, the molecule conformations, the monomer length and the chain diameter were theoretically calculated. These results were used to interpret experimental data, which comprised the molecule secondary structure, the diffusion coefficient, the hydrodynamic diameter and the electrophoretic mobility determined at various ionic strengths and pHs. Using these data, the electrokinetic charge and the effective ionization degree of P-Arg molecules were determined. In addition, the dynamic viscosity measurements for dilute P-Arg solutions enabledto determine the molecule intrinsic viscosity, which was equal to 500 and 90 for ionic strength of 10−5 and 0.15 M, respectively. This confirmed that P-Arg molecules assumed extended conformations and approached the slender body limit at the low range of ionic strength. The experimental data were also used to determine the molecule length and the chain diameter, which agreed with theoretical predictions. Exploiting these results, a robust method for determining the molar mass of P-Arg samples, the hydrodynamic diameter, the radius of gyration and the sedimentation coefficient was proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Nanocomposites in the Environment)
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17 pages, 4588 KiB  
Article
Adsorption Behavior of Magnetic Carbon-Supported Metal Nickel for the Efficient Dye Removal from Water
by Beifeng Lv, Jingjing Xu, Haibo Kang, Pengfei Liang, Wei Wang and Feifei Tao
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1682; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19031682 - 01 Feb 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1581
Abstract
Magnetic carbon-supported metal nickel has been successfully synthesized by solvothermal method and heat treatment for highly effective adsorption of various reactive dyes. Structure characterization and composition analysis demonstrated that the metal nickel nanoparticles with the size of 1–2 nm were embedded into the [...] Read more.
Magnetic carbon-supported metal nickel has been successfully synthesized by solvothermal method and heat treatment for highly effective adsorption of various reactive dyes. Structure characterization and composition analysis demonstrated that the metal nickel nanoparticles with the size of 1–2 nm were embedded into the pore of carbon spheres. It is helpful to prevent the agglomeration and falling off of metal nickel nanoparticles on the surface of carbon spheres. The adsorption performance of the carbon-supported metal nickel nanospheres for reactive brilliant yellow R-4GLN was studied by changing the pH value and initial concentration of the solution, adsorption time, adsorption temperature, and the amount of adsorbent. The carbon-supported metal nickel showed fast and efficient adsorption activity. After 5 min of adsorption, the removal efficiency of 10 mL 25 mg·mL−1 reactive brilliant yellow R-4GLN was close to 100%. The carbon-supported metal nickel composite was reused 20 times, and the removal efficiency of dye remained above 98%. It also showed good adsorption performance on various reactive dyes with wide universality, which has a certain adsorption effect on most dyes with a high utilization value in wastewater treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Nanocomposites in the Environment)
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16 pages, 28904 KiB  
Article
Mechanism of Stability and Transport of Chitosan-Stabilized Nano Zero-Valent Iron in Saturated Porous Media
by Dan Huang, Zhongyu Ren, Xiaoyu Li and Qi Jing
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(10), 5115; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18105115 - 12 May 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2064
Abstract
Chitosan-stabilized nano zero-valent iron (CTS-nZVI) prepared by the liquid-phase reduction method has been shown to achieve a good dispersion effect. However, there has been little analysis on the mechanism affecting its stability and transport in saturated porous media. In this paper, settling experiments [...] Read more.
Chitosan-stabilized nano zero-valent iron (CTS-nZVI) prepared by the liquid-phase reduction method has been shown to achieve a good dispersion effect. However, there has been little analysis on the mechanism affecting its stability and transport in saturated porous media. In this paper, settling experiments were conducted to study the stabilization of CTS-nZVI. The transport of CTS-nZVI in saturated porous media at different influencing factors was studied by sand column experiments. The stability mechanism of CTS-nZVI was analyzed from the point of view of colloidal stability by settling experiments and a zeta potential test. The theoretical model of colloidal filtration was applied for the calculation of transport coefficients on the basis of the column experiments data. Considering attachment–detachment effects, a particle transport model was built using HYDRUS-1D software to analyze the transport and spatial distribution of CTS-nZVI in a sand column. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Nanocomposites in the Environment)
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15 pages, 3265 KiB  
Article
Mechanism of Myoglobin Molecule Adsorption on Silica: QCM, OWLS and AFM Investigations
by Monika Wasilewska, Małgorzata Nattich-Rak, Agata Pomorska and Zbigniew Adamczyk
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(9), 4944; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18094944 - 06 May 2021
Viewed by 2127
Abstract
Adsorption kinetics of myoglobin on silica was investigated using the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and the optical waveguide light-mode spectroscopy (OWLS). Measurements were carried out for the NaCl concentration of 0.01 M and 0.15 M. A quantitative analysis of the kinetic adsorption and [...] Read more.
Adsorption kinetics of myoglobin on silica was investigated using the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and the optical waveguide light-mode spectroscopy (OWLS). Measurements were carried out for the NaCl concentration of 0.01 M and 0.15 M. A quantitative analysis of the kinetic adsorption and desorption runs acquired from QCM allowed to determine the maximum coverage of irreversibly bound myoglobin molecules. At a pH of 3.5–4 this was equal to 0.60 mg m−2 and 1.3 mg m−2 for a NaCl concentration of 0.01 M and 0.15 M, respectively, which agrees with the OWLS measurements. The latter value corresponds to the closely packed monolayer of molecules predicted from the random sequential adsorption approach. The fraction of reversibly bound protein molecules and their biding energy were also determined. It is observed that at larger pHs, the myoglobin adsorption kinetics was much slower. This behavior was attributed to the vanishing net charge that decreased the binding energy of molecules with the substrate. These results can be exploited to develop procedures for preparing myoglobin layers at silica substrates of well-controlled coverage useful for biosensing purposes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Nanocomposites in the Environment)
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22 pages, 3405 KiB  
Article
Facile Use of Silver Nanoparticles-Loaded Alumina/Silica in Nanofluid Formulations for Enhanced Catalytic Performance toward 4-Nitrophenol Reduction
by Rashmi Mannu, Vaithinathan Karthikeyan, Murugendrappa Malalkere Veerappa, Vellaisamy A. L. Roy, Anantha-Iyengar Gopalan, Gopalan Saianand, Prashant Sonar, Binrui Xu, Kwang-Pill Lee, Wha-Jung Kim, Dong-Eun Lee and Venkatramanan Kannan
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 2994; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18062994 - 15 Mar 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2668
Abstract
The introduction of toxic chemicals into the environment can result in water pollution leading to the degradation of biodiversity as well as human health. This study presents a new approach of using metal oxides (Al2O3 and SiO2) modified [...] Read more.
The introduction of toxic chemicals into the environment can result in water pollution leading to the degradation of biodiversity as well as human health. This study presents a new approach of using metal oxides (Al2O3 and SiO2) modified with a plasmonic metal (silver, Ag) nanoparticles (NPs)-based nanofluid (NF) formulation for environmental remediation purposes. Firstly, we prepared the Al2O3 and SiO2 NFs of different concentrations (0.2 to 2.0 weight %) by ultrasonic-assisted dispersion of Al2O3 and SiO2 NPs with water as the base fluid. The thermo-physical (viscosity, activation energy, and thermal conductivity), electrical (AC conductivity and dielectric constant) and physical (ultrasonic velocity, density, refractive index) and stability characteristics were comparatively evaluated. The Al2O3 and SiO2 NPs were then catalytically activated by loading silver NPs to obtain Al2O3/SiO2@Ag composite NPs. The catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) with Al2O3/SiO2@Ag based NFs was followed. The catalytic efficiency of Al2O3@Ag NF and SiO2@Ag NF, for the 4-NP catalysis, is compared. Based on the catalytic rate constant evaluation, the catalytic reduction efficiency for 4-NP is found to be superior for 2% weight Al2O3@Ag NF (92.9 × 10−3 s−1) as compared to the SiO2@Ag NF (29.3 × 10−3 s−1). Importantly, the enhanced catalytic efficiency of 2% weight Al2O3@Ag NF for 4-NP removal is much higher than other metal NPs based catalysts reported in the literature, signifying the importance of NF formulation-based catalysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Nanocomposites in the Environment)
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14 pages, 3263 KiB  
Article
Carbon-Based Nanomaterials as Promising Material for Wastewater Treatment Processes
by Krzysztof Piaskowski and Paweł K. Zarzycki
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(16), 5862; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17165862 - 13 Aug 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3109
Abstract
In the latest literature search, the technology based on graphite oxide (GO) nanomaterials exhibits a great potential in many aspects of wastewater treatment involving adsorption, photocatalysis, disinfection and membrane process. In this study experimental data involving the carbon element in different forms such [...] Read more.
In the latest literature search, the technology based on graphite oxide (GO) nanomaterials exhibits a great potential in many aspects of wastewater treatment involving adsorption, photocatalysis, disinfection and membrane process. In this study experimental data involving the carbon element in different forms such as active carbon (AC), graphite and graphene oxide (GO) applied as the active reagents in wastewater treatment are summarized and discussed. The first step was to characterize the aforementioned carbon materials and nanoparticles using various complementary techniques. These include optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Raman spectrophotometry and zeta potential measurements. The second issue was to design the relatively simple experiment enabling us to observe the physicochemical and biological effects of carbon nanoparticles in the presence of sewage water and/or active sludge. Obtained experimental data have been inspected using univariate and multivariate (principal component analysis, PCA) approaches confirming the complex interaction of GO nanoparticles with microorganisms that are present in activated sludge. This experiment enabled the collection of an initial data set to design different large scale investigations focusing on active nanoparticles affecting wastewater purification. PCA calculations clearly revealed that GO strongly affects the wastewater technological processes investigated. It is hoped that the described results will allow the design of smart environmental protection systems in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Nanocomposites in the Environment)
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