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Molecules
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Synthesis of Engineered Nanomaterials for Environmental and Energy Applications
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Synthesis of Engineered Nanomaterials for Environmental and Energy Applications

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2020) | Viewed by 18451

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Alireza Khataee

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Guest Editor
Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Interests: synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials; advanced oxidation processes; ultrasound-assisted processes; electrochemical water treatment processes; chemiluminescence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mahdie Safarpour

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Basic Science, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran
Prof. Dr. Sang Woo Joo

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Guest Editor
World Class University Nano Research Center, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Korea

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanotechnology has taken the world of science by storm due to the representation of new materials with extraordinary properties. With the rapid development of nanotechnology from the laboratory to industrial applications and the commercialization of products, the synthesis of more efficient and applicable nanomaterials is of great importance. Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are designed, synthesized, and/or modified to meet specific characteristics and enhanced performance for defined applications. Among a wide variety applications of ENMs, environmental-, and energy-related applications, which constitute two current major global challenges, have attracted rising attention and importance.

In this Special Issue, researchers are invited to submit their original research articles, as well as review articles related to the synthesis of different nanomaterials engineered for environmental and energy applications. We look forward to collecting a set of recent advances in this field to provide a platform for researchers and bridging the gap between new materials research and their potential applications. Topics may include the design and synthesis methods of novel nanomaterials, the characterization of their engineered structures and properties, and potential applications for environmental remediation and energy storage.

Prof. Alireza Khataee
Dr. Mahdie Safarpour
Prof. Dr. Sang Woo Joo
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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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

  • Engineered nanomaterials
  • Nanostructures
  • Synthesis methods
  • Environment
  • Water and wastewater
  • Air and soil contaminates
  • Nanotoxicity
  • Pollution remediation
  • Energy

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2617 KiB  
Article
ANOVA Design for the Optimization of TiO2 Coating on Polyether Sulfone Membranes
by Yasin Orooji, Ehsan Ghasali, Nahid Emami, Fatemeh Noorisafa and Amir Razmjou
Molecules 2019, 24(16), 2924; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules24162924 - 12 Aug 2019
Cited by 63 | Viewed by 4543
Abstract
There have been developments in the optimization of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes, to provide antifouling and mechanically stable surfaces which are vital to water purification applications. There is a variety of approaches to prepare nanocomposite PES membranes. However, an optimized condition for making such [...] Read more.
There have been developments in the optimization of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes, to provide antifouling and mechanically stable surfaces which are vital to water purification applications. There is a variety of approaches to prepare nanocomposite PES membranes. However, an optimized condition for making such membranes is in high demand. Using experimental design and statistical analysis (one-half fractional factorial design), this study investigates the effect of different parameters featured in the fabrication of membranes, as well as on the performance of a nanocomposite PES/TiO2 membrane. The optimized parameters obtained in this study are: exposure time of 60 s, immersion time above 10 h, glycerol time of 4 h, and a nonsolvent volumetric ratio (isopropanol/water) of 30/70 for PES and dimethylacetamide (PES-DMAc) membrane and 70/30 for PES and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (PES-NMP) membrane. A comparison of the contributory factors for different templating agents along with a nanocomposite membrane control revealed that F127 triblock copolymer resulted in an excellent antifouling membrane with a higher bovine serum albumin rejection and flux recovery of 83.33%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis of Engineered Nanomaterials for Environmental and Energy Applications)
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18 pages, 5558 KiB  
Article
Conjugated Electron Donor–Acceptor Hybrid Polymeric Carbon Nitride as a Photocatalyst for CO2 Reduction
by Asif Hayat, Mati Ur Rahman, Iltaf Khan, Javid Khan, Muhammad Sohail, Humaira Yasmeen, Shu-yuan Liu, Kezhen Qi and Wenxiu Lv
Molecules 2019, 24(9), 1779; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules24091779 - 08 May 2019
Cited by 72 | Viewed by 5070
Abstract
This work incorporates a variety of conjugated donor-acceptor (DA) co-monomers such as 2,6-diaminopurine (DP) into the structure of a polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) backbone using a unique nanostructure co-polymerization strategy and examines its photocatalytic activity performance in the field of photocatalytic CO2 [...] Read more.
This work incorporates a variety of conjugated donor-acceptor (DA) co-monomers such as 2,6-diaminopurine (DP) into the structure of a polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) backbone using a unique nanostructure co-polymerization strategy and examines its photocatalytic activity performance in the field of photocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO and H2 under visible light irradiation. The as-synthesized samples were successfully analyzed using different characterization methods to explain their electronic and optical properties, crystal phase, microstructure, and their morphology that influenced the performance due to the interactions between the PCN and the DPco-monomer. Based on the density functional theory (DFT) calculation result, pure PCN and CNU-DP15.0 trimers (interpreted as incorporation of the co-monomer at two different positions) were extensively evaluated and exhibited remarkable structural optimization without the inclusion of any symmetry constraints (the non-modified sample derived from urea, named as CNU), and their optical and electronic properties were also manipulated to control occupation of their respective highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). Also, co-polymerization of the donor–acceptor 2,6-diamino-purine co-monomer with PCN influenced the chemical affinities, polarities, and acid–base functions of the PCN, remarkably enhancing the photocatalytic activity for the production of CO and H2 from CO2 by 15.02-fold compared than that of the parental CNU, while also improving the selectivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis of Engineered Nanomaterials for Environmental and Energy Applications)
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15 pages, 3628 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Toxic Impacts of Cadmium Selenide Nanoparticles on the Aquatic Plant Lemna minor
by Roshanak Tarrahi, Ali Movafeghi, Alireza Khataee, Farkhondeh Rezanejad and Gholamreza Gohari
Molecules 2019, 24(3), 410; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules24030410 - 23 Jan 2019
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4184
Abstract
Cadmium selenide nanoparticles (CdSe NPs) were synthesized by an easy and simple method and their properties were assessed by XRD, TEM and SEM techniques. The effects of CdSe NPs as well as Cd2+ ions on Lemna minor plants were investigated. The absorption [...] Read more.
Cadmium selenide nanoparticles (CdSe NPs) were synthesized by an easy and simple method and their properties were assessed by XRD, TEM and SEM techniques. The effects of CdSe NPs as well as Cd2+ ions on Lemna minor plants were investigated. The absorption of CdSe NPs by the plants had some adverse consequences that were assessed by a range of biological analyses. The results revealed that both CdSe NPs and the ionic form of cadmium noticeably caused toxicity in L. minor. Morphological parameters as well as peroxidase (POD) activity were deteriorated. In contrast, the activities of some other antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)) as well as the contents of total phenol and flavonoids went up. Taken all together, it could be implied that CdSe NPs as well as Cd2+ were highly toxic to plants and stimulated the plant defense system in order to scavenge produced reactive oxygen species (ROS). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis of Engineered Nanomaterials for Environmental and Energy Applications)
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19 pages, 6757 KiB  
Article
Modification of Immobilized Titanium Dioxide Nanostructures by Argon Plasma for Photocatalytic Removal of Organic Dyes
by Hamid Reza Khaledian, Pezhman Zolfaghari, Vahide Elhami, Mostafa Aghbolaghy, Sirous Khorram, Afzal Karimi and Alireza Khataee
Molecules 2019, 24(3), 383; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules24030383 - 22 Jan 2019
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4234
Abstract
The aim of this study was to modify surface properties of immobilized rutile TiO2 using Argon cold plasma treatment and to evaluate the performance of the catalyst in photocatalytic elimination of synthetic dyes in UV/TiO2/H2O2 process. The [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to modify surface properties of immobilized rutile TiO2 using Argon cold plasma treatment and to evaluate the performance of the catalyst in photocatalytic elimination of synthetic dyes in UV/TiO2/H2O2 process. The surface-modified TiO2 was characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, UV-DRS and XPS analyses. Response surface methodology was adopted to achieve high catalyst efficiency by evaluating the effect of two main independent cold plasma treatment parameters (exposure time and pressure) on surface modification of the catalyst. The increase of the plasma operation pressure led to higher decolorization percentage, while the increase of plasma exposure time decreased the decolorization efficiency. RSM methodology predicted optimum plasma treatment conditions to be 0.78 Torr and 21 min of exposure time, which resulted in decolorization of 10 mg/L solution of the malachite green solution by 94.94% in 30 min. The plasma treatment decreased the oxygen to titanium ratio and caused oxygen vacancy on the surface of the catalyst, resulting in the superior performance of the plasma-treated catalyst. Pseudo first-order kinetic rate constant for the plasma-treated catalyst was 4.28 and 2.03 times higher than the rate constant for the non-treated photocatalyst in decolorization of aqueous solutions of malachite green and crystal violet, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis of Engineered Nanomaterials for Environmental and Energy Applications)
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