Carbon-Based Nanomaterials as Promising Material for Wastewater Treatment Processes.

Krzysztof Piaskowski,Paweł K Zarzycki

doi:10.3390/ijerph17165862

Krzysztof Piaskowski, Paweł K Zarzycki

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165862

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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 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.

Highlights

Carbon nanoparticles are presently considered as the most versatile materials that can be used for improvement of wastewater treatment processes
Due to the well-known problem of low molecular mass organic micropollutants that are present in sewage like EDCs, there has been extensive research focusing on the invention of more efficient, selective and recyclable carbon sorbents [15,16]
We have found that drying protocol may strongly affect the physicochemical properties of the graphene oxide (GO) raw matrix

Summary

Introduction

Carbon nanoparticles are presently considered as the most versatile materials that can be used for improvement of wastewater treatment processes. Extensive research carried out worldwide has resulted in the discovery of new carbon related materials that have been successfully implemented in wastewater treatment and environmental protection technologies [1,2]. According to the latest literature search, the main targets such as micropollutants or pathogenic microorganisms, which can be removed from wastewater by carbon nanoparticles in various technological processes, are summarized in Figure 1 [3,4,5]. The most commonly investigated carbon-based nanomaterials are graphene (G); graphene oxide (GO); single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT); and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) These materials can be applied in their pure forms, or they may act as complex hybrid materials [4,5]

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