Excellent Regeneration Property Research Articles

Construction of bilayer biomimetic periosteum based on SLA-3D printing for bone regeneration

An ideal biomimetic periosteum should have excellent biocompatibility to promote osteoclast adhesion and improve osseointegration, which is significant in promoting bone regeneration. In this work, a bionic artificial periosteum printed by the SLA-3D printing was prepared, consisting of a poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA)/chitosan/tricalcium phosphate (TCP) fibrous layer and a gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)/ammonium molybdate (Mo) cambium layer. Distinct surface characteristics were achieved on both sides of the biomimetic periosteum. Among them, the fibrous layer has high mechanical properties and low porosity, which is conducive to preventing the pulling of muscle tissues and the invasion of soft tissues. The cambium layer has a porous structure and bioactive factors that can effectively promote osteogenic differentiation of preosteoblasts. Combined with mild photothermal therapy triggered by NIR light, the biomimetic periosteum could promote bone regeneration at both the chemical and physical levels. This 3D-printed bilayer hydrogel can provide a promising strategy for preparing advanced tissue-engineered periosteum with excellent physical and bone regeneration properties.

Fabrication of core-shell structural Y@VTMS-DVB composites with enhanced hydrophobicity for toluene capture under humid environment

Zeolite Y serves as an effective adsorbent for VOCs capture due to its ordered porous structure, exceptional thermal stability, chemical resistance and fine-tune key properties. However, the hydrophilicity caused by the low SiO2/Al2O3 ratio seriously limits its industrial application, especially in humid environments. In this work, a series of core-shell composites Y@VTMS-DVBn were prepared through surface grafting and copolymerization. A variety of characterizations were utilized to study the structural and morphological changes of the prepared samples. The dynamic breakthrough adsorption experiment showed that the toluene uptake was significantly improved from 1.77 mg/g to 53.09 mg/g under 30 % relative humidity. Moreover, the core-shell composite exhibited excellent regeneration properties, the adsorption capacity remained 90 % under wet conditions after 6 cycles of regeneration. Adsorption kinetic analysis revealed that the adsorption behavior of toluene on the prepared adsorbents was primarily physical adsorption. These results show that the core-shell composite is a promising candidate for VOCs removal in industrial application.

Ti3C2TX MXene/loofah-derived carbon aerogel for high-efficiency adsorption of organic pollutants in wastewater

The contamination of wastewater by organic pollutants significantly impacts human health and the environment due to their carcinogenic nature and various adverse effects. To address this issue, this study offers a high-efficiency and low-cost biomass-based carbon aerogel adsorbent, which was prepared through the hydrothermal carbonization of loofah, followed by Ti3C2TX MXene impregnation. The aerogel features a porous three-dimensional network structure and a substantial specific surface area, facilitating broad-spectrum adsorption capabilities for various dyes and drugs. The aerogel achieved impressive adsorption capacities of 175.29 and 75.73 mg/g for cationic methylene blue and Rhodamine B dyes, and 106.33 and 93.29 mg/g for anionic methyl orange and Congo red dyes, as well as 86.25 mg/g for tetracycline hydrochloride, surpassing other reported biomass-based aerogels. Furthermore, it demonstrated effective decolorization ability for wastewater containing mixed dyes. Notably, it exhibited excellent recycling and regeneration properties, maintaining a high removal rate after multiple cycles of adsorption–desorption. The adsorption process of dye/drug by the aerogel followed Langmuir’s monomolecular layer adsorption model, exhibiting spontaneous, endothermic, and disorder-increasing behavior in alignment with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. This study presents an efficient biomass-based aerogel for the removal of organic pollutants from wastewater.

Post-synthetic modification of zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks for enhanced simultaneous adsorption of heavy metal ions and organic dyes

Heavy metal and dye pollution pose a serious threat to human health and ecology, and there is an urgent need to develop novel adsorbent materials for wastewater treatment. In this study, a novel functionalized zirconium-based MOF UiO-66-Gd was prepared by a post-synthetic modification strategy and used for the simultaneous removal of Pb2+, Cu2+ and methylene blue (MB) from wastewater. UiO-66-Gd retained the crystalline structure and morphological features before modification. The specific surface area reached 574.94 m2/g, which can provide abundant active sites for adsorption. The effects of several factors on the adsorptive performance of UiO-66-Gd were investigated by batch adsorption experiments. The adsorption of Pb2+ by UiO-66-Gd reached the adsorption equilibrium in only 5 min. The theoretical maximum adsorption capacities for Pb2+, Cu2+ and MB were 833.33, 354.61 and 564.91 mg/g, respectively. In addition, UiO-66-Gd has excellent anti-interference and regeneration properties with potential for practical applications. Competition adsorption experiments showed that UiO-66-Gd had the greatest affinity for Pb2+. The adsorption of UiO-66-Gd on Pb2+ and Cu2+ was mainly through electrostatic interactions and chelation, and on MB mainly through electrostatic interactions, π-π interactions and hydrogen bonding. Overall, UiO-66-Gd has great potential for application in the removal of Pb2+, Cu2+ and MB.

An electrospun iron oxychloride/polyacrylonitrile nanofibrous membrane with superhydrophilic and excellent regeneration properties: Achieving superior oil-in-water emulsion separation

Superhydrophilic polymer membranes are widely used in oil-water separation due to their excellent wettability, high efficiency, low cost, and good biocompatibility. However, challenges such as fouling adhesion and inadequate stability persist during the treatment of oily wastewater. Herein, a novel iron oxychloride/polyacrylonitrile (FeOCl/PAN) nanofibrous membrane with superhydrophilicity and remarkable regenerability was successfully fabricated through simple electrospinning technique, which maintained good physicochemical stability under various harsh conditions with the uniform distribution of FeOCl on PAN fibers. The surface morphology and chemical compositions of the optimized FeOCl/PAN membrane were studied by several characterization techniques. The introduced FeOCl nanocrystals through electrospinning endowed the membrane with a rougher surface structure, significantly improving the hydrophilicity of the FeOCl/PAN nanofibrous membrane. In the cross-flow isooctane-in-water emulsion separation experiment, the initial water flux recovery rate (FRR) of the membrane increased from 92 % for the pure PAN membrane to around 99 %. Meanwhile, the optimized FeOCl/PAN nanofibrous membrane achieved an emulsion (isooctane) flux of approximately 632.9 L m−2 h−1, with an oil droplet removal rate surpassing 99.4 %. Furthermore, by cleaning the membrane with H2O2 (60 mM, pH = 3), the FeOCl/PAN membrane exhibited an exceptionally high water flux recovery rate (∼100 %) after high-concentration paraffin-in-water emulsion (4000 mg L−1) separation. In addition, the FeOCl/PAN membrane also demonstrated excellent antifouling performance in bovine serum albumin (BSA) pollution experiment. In summary, this work might provide a unique strategy for preparing advanced functional membranes with superior efficiency and durability for emulsified oily wastewater treatment.

Sequential assembly enhanced selectivity on magnetic imprinted polymers for specific capture of naringin: A combination of synergistic dual sites and imprinted effect

Green and sustainable recovery of high-value natural flavonoids in agricultural wastes could not only improve natural resource utilization, but also could effectively reduce environmental pollution. Recently, great efforts have been made for research on the development of magnetic imprinted composite adsorbent, but the simultaneous promotion of stable selectivity and high adsorption amounts still faces its challenges. Inspired by “Sandwich-like” transport channels with proper steric and specific affinity sites, herein we designed a new kind of surface-imprinted magnetic colloidal nanocrystal clusters (MCNCs) with dual recognition sites (MCNCs@DR-MIPs) via sequential surface imprinted strategy. A two-step sequential surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) was employed to construct the double imprinted sites, which can significantly improve the adsorption selectivity and adsorption amounts. In this design, the metal ion Zn(II) and the low pKa boronic acid APBA (1-allylpyridine-3-boronic acid, pKa = 7.4) could effectively tune the appropriate yolk-shell confinement sites, the obtained artificial double imprinted binding sites establishes the promising chemical environment for selective separation. As expected, the adsorption equilibrium experiments exhibited adsorption kinetics (180 min) and the maximum equilibrium binding capacity (34.60 µmol g−1). In virtue of unique advantages of magnetic separation materials, this novel absorbent exhibited a green and environmentally friendly enrichment process for naringin (NRG). Meanwhile, MCNCs@DR-MIPs showed excellent selectivity (imprinted factor 2.15) and regeneration properties (only decreased by 8.22 % after 7 cycles) for NRG. Additionally, the commercially available NRG could be effectively extracted and concentrated to 94.78 %. This study offers a sustainable effective strategy for flavonoids purification of magnetic separation materials and promotes advance the other natural compounds from agricultural wastes.

Al2O3-Encapsulated TiO2 flower-like spherical mesoporous material for efficient removal of PCl3 traces

Solar energy is considered the most promising sustainable green energy source. Currently, more than 95% of solar energy development and utilization is based on silicon, especially polysilicon. In the production of polysilicon, the PCl3 impurity content must be removed to the ppb level to ensure product performance. Al2O3 has been confirmed to be effective at removing PCl3 at ppm levels, however, it suffers from weak adsorption capacity, slow adsorption rate and low adsorption efficiency in the case of PCl3 in ppb levels. In this work, by encapsulating Al2O3 on TiO2, a flower-like spherical adsorbent ([Al2O3]3[TiO2]1) was prepared. The experimental results show that after introducing TiO2, the adsorption performance of [Al2O3]3[TiO2]1 for PCl3 in ppb levels is significantly improved, 34.1% higher than that before introducing TiO2. Five adsorption–desorption cycles indicate that [Al2O3]3[TiO2]1 has excellent regeneration property. Characterization analysis and density functional theory(DFT) simulations suggest that PCl3 interacts with the adsorbent primarily through charge transfer.

A study on the performance of a recyclable adsorbent La@Fe for phosphate adsorption in wastewater

Phosphorus(P) is the key element of the growth of phytoplankton, and is also significant cause of water eutrophication. In this work, the magnetic Fe3O4 (FE) microspheres were employed as the core material, the La compound was coated on the surface of the FE microspheres and the adsorbent obtained was denoted as La@Fe. The effects of preparation conditions including the dosage of NaOH, the preparation time, the ratio of FE and LaCl3 (LC), and the stirring time were discussed. The optimized La@Fe has a good adsorption capacity (130–160 mg·g−1) and strong magnetic recovery capacity (43.4 emu/g). In the low concentration (1 mg·L−1), the optimized La@Fe still had an excellent performance. It can keep a good adsorption in a wide pH range (3−8). Except Na2CO3, common anions (NaHCO3, NaCl, NaNO3, Na2SO4, KF, KNO2) in the wastewater could not affect the adsorption capacity of La@Fe. After 7 regeneration, the adsorption capacity of La@Fe reduced by 25% indicating the excellent regeneration property of La@Fe. The La@Fe was analyzed by SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, BET, and LPS, and the obtained results showed that the particles of La@Fe were spherical, the particle sizes were between 0.1 and 100μm. The main components at the surface of La@Fe was La-(OH), which adsorbed phosphate to form La-PO4. The specific surface area of La@Fe was small and the mesopores were main pore structure. In addition, the adsorption kinetics analysis indicated that the Elovich model worked well on modeling La@Fe adsorbing phosphate, so the adsorption was chemical adsorption with heterogeneous adsorbing surfaces. Adsorption isotherms experiments revealed that the increasing adsorption temperature would enhance the adsorption capacity of La@Fe. It could be obtained from the thermodynamic experiments that the adsorption process was endothermic and chemical adsorption. Therefore, La@Fe is an excellent phosphate adsorbent and has a good application prospect in the field of phosphorus recovery and adsorbent reuse.

Engineering bifunctional sites in covalent polymers for boosting photocatalytic H2S oxidation

The development of catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen sulfide (H2S) oxidation with excellent efficiency and regeneration properties is a significant challenge. Herein, the pyridine units as bifunctional sites are incorporated in covalent polymers (CPs) by CN coupling reaction, which exhibit photocatalytic H2S selective oxidation to sulfur conversion (95 %) under visible light in a continuous flow system, more than twice that of the pristine sample (40 %). Meanwhile, the photocatalytic H2S conversion rate had a linear function relationship with pyridinic N content, demonstrating the substantial role of pyridine in photocatalytic H2S oxidation process. According to experimental results, the pyridine unit not only acted as the structural base site to improve the H2S chemisorption, but also served as electron withdrawing unit to construct electron donor-acceptor (D-A) structure with benzene, which optimized the light absorption, charge separation and migration. In addition, series in-situ measurements and electron density difference simulations revealed the significant role of electron D-A structure in H2S adsorption and activation process. By exploring the effect of pyridine unit in CPs on H2S conversion process, this work provides a new idea for the subsequent study of photocatalytic H2S oxidation.

Preparation and characterization of calcite/biochar composites fabricated by co-pyrolysis technique

In this study, calcite/biochar (CAL/BC) porous composites were synthesized via the co-pyrolysis of coconut shell (CS) and calcite (CAL) at temperatures ranging from 500°C, 600°C and 700°C. The surface morphology, chemical composition, and electrochemical properties of the CAL/BC composites were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), BET analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and electrochemical workstation. The results revealed that CAL/BC composites produced at 700°C exhibited the highest adsorption capacity for Pb solution among all synthesized materials, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 79.8 mg/g. Furthermore, excellent regeneration properties were observed for all CAL/BC composites prepared at 500°C, 600°C, and 700°C, with a high removal rate of Pb maintained after four adsorption-desorption cycles. The CAL/BC composite synthesized at 700°C exhibited the lowest corrosion current density of 6.314×10−6A/cm2, indicating the most outstanding corrosion resistance among all three CAL/BC composites. Conversely, the highest corrosion current density of 8.871×10−5A/cm2 was observed in the CAL/BC composite prepared at 500°C, indicating the most inadequate corrosion resistance of this composite.

Performance and mechanism of benzene adsorption on ZnCl2 one-step modified corn cob biochar.

Utilizing cost-effective corn cob, zinc chloride-modified biochar was synthesized through one-step method for benzene adsorption from air. Study on impregnation ratio impact showed optimal benzene adsorption at ZnCl2:CC ratio of 1.5:1, with capacity reaching 170.53mgg-1. Characterization using BET, SEM, FTIR, and XPS was conducted. BET results indicated specific surface area of Zn1.5BC at 1260.63 m2g-1 and maximum pore volume of 0.546 m3g-1. SEM analysis revealed microporous-mesoporous structure in Zn1.5BC, marking significant improvement over original biomass. DFT pore size distribution and FTIR analysis suggested post-modification dehydration and elimination reactions, leading to volatile compound release, functional group reduction, and pore widening. XPS analysis showed decrease in O = C-OH content with increased impregnation ratio, enhancing biochar's π-π electron diffusion for benzene. Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models effectively described experimental data, indicating multilayer benzene adsorption on biochar controlled by complex physicochemical adsorption and pore diffusion. Adsorption condition assessment, including adsorption temperature (20-120℃) and benzene concentration in inlet phase (159.73-383.36 mg L-1), was performed. Yoon-Nelson model fitting indicated adsorption site loss at higher temperatures and reduced capture ability due to increased adsorbate molecule kinetic energy. Higher adsorbate concentrations aided adsorption molecule diffusion to biochar surface and internal pores, increasing adsorption rate and shortening equilibrium time. Overall, zinc chloride-modified biochar facilitates benzene adsorption through pore filling and π-π interactions, with pore filling as primary mechanism. Produced biochar shows excellent regeneration properties and reusability.

Electrospinning prepared nickel-based carbon fibers with enhanced adsorption capacity for adsorption desulfurization of fuels

Enhanced adsorption capacity of adsorbents with excellent regeneration properties always remained the focus of researchers in the adsorptive desulfurization (ADS) technology. In this paper, we report an electrospinning method to prepare nickel-based carbon fibers (NCF), and their adsorption desulfurization performance was compared with those of nickel-based carbon particles (NCP) obtained via traditional solid-state grinding method. The results demonstrated that compared with NCP, NCF contained more abundant mesoporous specific surface area and mesopore volume, well-distributed active metal sites, which would be beneficial to their enhanced adsorption desulfurization performance. As a result, the adsorption capacity of NCF was as high as 13.13 mg S/g in the ADS of thiophene, and its regeneration performance was also far better than that of NCP. In addition, the adsorption process of thiophene was briefly analyzed from the perspective of kinetics, which demonstrated that the adsorption of thiophene in NCF and NCP were both in accordance with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model.

Highly efficient and selective extraction of Li+ from high sodium lithium containing wastewater using manganese series adsorbent

Lithium is an indispensable key material in the energy field and is now the treasure of the times. With the rapid expansion of the lithium battery sector, lithium resources are in a supply dilemma, not replenishing demand. The resource recovery process of retired lithium batteries usually produces lithium-containing solutions, and there are usually monovalent cations such as Na+ with the same valence state as Li+, resulting in no better method to extract Li+ from such solutions. Therefore, efficient and selective lithium recovery is particularly important. To this end, HMn2O4 (HMO) adsorbents were synthesized to recover lithium from high sodium lithium-containing wastewater. The adsorption capacity of HMO for Li+ can reach 26 mg/g. After several cycles of experiments, the adsorption capacity of the synthesized HMO for Li+ held stable at about 20 mg/g. It is also used to recover lithium from high sodium lithium-containing wastewater and compared with commercial adsorbent materials. The separation coefficient was found to be as high as 371.18 (The highest separation factor of commercial adsorbent materials is only 46.62), with good adsorption selectivity and stability. It provides a synthetically convenient idea for the Li+/Na+ separation problem in water, and the good selectivity and excellent cyclic regeneration properties of manganese-based adsorbent materials provide some theoretical support for commercial applications.

Characteristics and mechanisms of sulfamethoxazole adsorption onto modified biochars with hierarchical pore structures: Batch, predictions using artificial neural network and fixed bed column studies

A series of modified biochar with hierarchical pore structures (ZnxBC1, x = 0.5, 1, 2, 3) was obtained by ZnCl2 and investigated the adsorption performance of sulfamethoxazole (SMX). The structure and composition of ZnxBC1 were well characterized by the material analysis technique. Compared with unmodified biochar (BC), the specific surface area, pore volume, and adsorption capacity of ZnxBC1 significantly increased. The ZnxBC1 performed a significant adsorption capacity of SMX with the maximum adsorption amount of 597.57 mg/g, leading to a 54-fold increase in that of BC (11.04 mg/g). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the quantitative relationship of qe with Vmeso and Vmicro was qe = 360.74*Vmeso + 871.58*Vmicro-22.26, which was the novelty of the study to the analysis of SMX adsorption capacity on the different Vmeso/Vmicro ratios of adsorbents. Based on the batch experiment results, an artificial neural network (ANN) model with a topology of 5:5:10:1 was developed to sufficiently describe the adsorption data (R2 > 0.99), and possessed good predictability in different water quality conditions. Additionally, both static adsorption and dynamic adsorption experiments of Zn1BC1 showed excellent regeneration properties. Overall, the ZnCl2 modified biochar with the properties of rapid adsorption rate, high adsorption capacity, multiple reuses, and low-cost performed the potential utilization for the removal of SMX, and the effect of pore structure of biochar on SMX adsorption could guide the design and preparation of efficient antibiotics adsorbents.

Optimization of diatom-based blotting materials and their efficient selective adsorption of Pb(II)

In this study, diatom-based Pb(II) imprinted materials (DE/Pb(II)IIP) were synthesized using the surface ion imprinting method with diatomaceous earth as the substrate, 3-mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (MPTES) as the functional monomer, Pb(II) as the template ion, and glutaric dialdehyde (GA) as the cross-linking agent to solve the pollution problem of Pb(II) ions in water in a targeted and selective manner. The response surface methodology-Box Behnken design was also utilized to analyze the effects of functional monomers, crosslinkers, and polymerization temperature alone, as well as their interaction relationship on the adsorption capacity of the adsorbents and to determine the optimal conditions for adsorbent synthesis. The systematic characterization of the DE/Pb(II)IIP adsorbent materials prior to and after adsorption revealed that MPTES was successfully grafted onto the diatom surface and cross-linked with GA to form uniformly distributed imprinted active sites while avoiding the fundamental problems of self-polymerization and self-cross-linking of functional monomers and crosslinkers. In addition, the combined action of S-Pb coordination and electrostatic adsorption is advantageous for Pb (II) adsorption. The adsorption process followed quasi-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isothermal adsorption model, as kinetics, isotherm, and thermodynamics demonstrated. The adsorption procedure was governed primarily by homogeneous single-layer chemisorption and was exothermic. DE/Pb(II)IIP exhibited greater selectivity for Pb(II) adsorption than the chemically similar non-imprinted polymer. Excellent selectivity and regeneration properties indicate that DE/Pb(II)IIP is a type of Pb(II) selective recognition adsorption material with a stable structure that can be widely used to recover and utilize heavy metals from actual wastewater.

Selective removal of La(III) from mine tailwater using porous titanium phosphate monolith: Adsorption behavior and mechanism

The separation of rare earth elements from mine tailwater has received extensive attention because of the harm to the surrounding environment caused by the low concentrations of rare earth elements in tailwater produced by rare earth mining, and the high demand for rare earth elements in modern society. In this study, a porous titanium phosphate (TP) monolith material was prepared via a sol-gel process accompanied by a phase separation method for the adsorption of La(III) in mine tailwater. The results show that the adsorbent had a stable co-continuous porous skeletal structure. The adsorption performance of the adsorbent was almost unaffected when the solution pH was greater than 2. The PSO kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model fit the experimental data well, and the maximum adsorption capacity at 30 °C was 253.97 mg·g−1. The TP monolith material exhibited excellent properties such as easy solid-liquid separation, good acid resistance and high adsorption capacity. In addition, the porous TP monolith had not only a certain selectivity for La(III), but also excellent adsorption-desorption and regeneration properties, which promote the application of TP monolith in the recovery of La(III) in actual wastewater. Finally, it was inferred from the mechanistic analysis that the phosphate groups on the material surface played a key role in the adsorption of La(III) by TP monolith materials.

Combined experimental and molecular simulation investigation of dodecylamine adsorption onto MIL-100(Fe) for wastewater treatment

Dodecylamine, which derives from organic synthesis or mineral flotation, prohibits the recycling and discharge of wastewater. In this research, a kind of metal-organic framework, MIL-100(Fe), was synthesized for the removal of dodecylamine from wastewater at room temperature. The structure of MIL-100(Fe) was investigated based on the XRD, SEM, XPS and FTIR measurements. The capture mechanism of dodecylamine by MIL-100(Fe) was deeply explored by experiments and molecular simulations at both macro and micro levels. Zeta potential analysis showed electrostatic attraction was one of the main driving forces for dodecylamine adsorption on MIL-100(Fe). The adsorption of dodecylamine could be illustrated by pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir adsorption model, with a monolayer adsorption capacity for dodecylamine reaching 70.47 mg/g. The molecular dynamics simulation results indicate that coordination interaction and hydrogen bonding also played important roles in dodecylamine capture by MIL-100(Fe). Besides, MIL-100(Fe) presented excellent regeneration property and stability. Thus, MIL-100(Fe) is a potential adsorbent for the highly efficient removal of dodecylamine from wastewater.

Synthesis and characterization of Ni-doped TiO2 activated carbon nanocomposite for the photocatalytic degradation of anthracene

Nickel-doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles (NDT) deposited on pine cone activated carbon (PAC) have been successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The as synthesized nanocomposite was characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV–vis DRS), Photoluminescence (PL), BET surface area, and pHzpc. The characterization results of the prepared nanocomposite revealed that Ni-TiO2 was loaded on the surface of PAC, and had a higher surface area and narrower bandgap than TiO2 nanoparticles. The visible-light photocatalytic activity of the Ni-TiO2@C nanocomposite towards anthracene degradation was found to be 99.9% in 50 mins leading to end products of (1E, 3Z)-hexa-1,3,5-trien-1-ol (1a; m/z = 96), and (1E, 3E)-penta-1,3-dien-1-ol. The synthesized Ni-TiO2@C nanocomposite exhibited a better photocatalytic activity towards the photocatalytic degradation of anthracene as compared to the TiO2 nanomaterial (22.5%) and TiO2/activated carbon nanocomposite (31%) under similar conditions. The photodegradation of anthracene followed the pseudo first-order rate kinetics. The Ni-TiO2@C nanocomposite had excellent regeneration properties till the fifth cycle of use during which it degraded around 73% anthracene.

A study on the catalytic role of Ce-Co species and coke deposited on ordered mesoporous Al2O3 in N2O-assisted oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene

The ordered mesoporous Al2O3 material was employed as support to prepare the CeO2-Co3O4 binary oxide catalysts for N2O-assisted oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene (EB), which was treated both as an effective method of styrene (ST) production and a high value-added utilization of the greenhouse gas. The catalytic performance was observed for the optimal 0.3Ce-7Co/OMA catalyst, which achieved 52.1% EB conversion with 88.7% selectivity toward ST at temperature as low as 500 ºC, far exceeding any other reported catalyst systems. Characterization results showed that an increase in the Co content led to a partial destruction of the order degree of pores, but maintained the mesoporous structure. The Ce modification not only decreased the particle size (<12 nm), considerably boosting the specific surface area, but also weakened the Co-O bond, making more O species available for the EB conversion. Studies on the carbon deposition formed during the catalytic runs revealed that the carbon deposited at the initial stage of reaction acted directly as the catalytically active sites enhanced the EB conversion. As the reaction progressed, the dynamic equilibrium between carbon deposition and burning relieved the loss of active sites and maintained the stability of catalyst activity. In addition, the excellent regeneration property of 0.3Ce-7Co/OMA catalyst indicated that N2O, which was used as an oxidizing agent, protected the catalyst against the formation of inactive carbonaceous deposition.

La(OH)3 synergistically reinforced hierarchical MoS2@Cellulose-Lignin composite membranes for tellurium (IV) separation in wastewater

Membrane separation technologies are extensively applied for ionic contaminant treatment, but the specific interaction means between composite membranes and contaminants are mostly unnoticed. Herein, hierarchically structured La(OH)3@MoS2@Cellulose-Lignin (La(OH)3@MoS2@CL) composite membranes were fabricated through hydrothermal and co-blending methods for tellurium separation. The obtained La(OH)3@MoS2@CL composite membrane effectively achieved a rejection rate of 98.61% under acidic conditions, facilitating the treatment and practical application to acidic tellurium-containing wastewater. Meanwhile, the relatively small contact angle and hydrophilic properties make it exhibit superior antifouling properties, which contribute to its application in complex environments. Besides, La(OH)3@MoS2@CL also exhibits excellent stability and regeneration properties, which are beneficial to prolong the service life of the composite membrane. Importantly, results reveal that composite membranes achieve tellurium separation of contaminants through reduction and ion exchange, which further reinforces the interaction forces of the composite membrane with ionic contaminants. Therefore, this work illustrates the mechanism of action for separating ionic contaminants and provides a channel for decontaminating similar contaminants in water treatment and environmental remediation.