Number Of Reactive Sites Research Articles

A Chemical Safety Assessment of Lyocell-Based Activated Carbon Fiber with a High Surface Area through the Evaluation of HCl Gas Adsorption and Electrochemical Properties

This study investigates lyocell-based activated carbon fibers (ACFs) for their suitability in adsorbing and electrochemically detecting toxic HCl gas. ACFs were prepared via steam activation, varying temperature (800–900 °C) and time (40–240 min) to assess their adsorption and sensing capabilities. The adjustment of activation temperature and reaction time aimed to regulate the uniformity of the pore structure and pore size of the active reaction area, as well as the number of reaction sites in the ACFs. Optimal ACFs were achieved at 900 °C for 50 min, exhibiting the highest specific surface area (1403 m2/g) and total pore volume (0.66 cm3/g). Longer reaction times resulted in pore formation and disorder, reducing mechanical strength. The ACFs prepared under optimal conditions demonstrated a rapid increase in resistance during sensor measurement, indicating a significant sensitivity to HCl gas. These findings suggest the potential of ACFs for efficient HCl gas adsorption (1626.20 mg/g) and highlight the importance of activation parameters in tailoring their properties for practical applications.

SnS2 nanosheets/Ag2S quantum dots heterojunction supported by YSZ nanofibers enable real-time room-temperature NO2 gas sensor

Air pollution has emerged as a critical global issue, necessitating the development of effective real-time gas monitoring technologies. However, conventional gas sensors face limitations such as high energy consumption and sluggish response/recovery kinetics. In this study, we report a novel SnS2/Ag2S heterojunction supported by yttria-stabilized zirconia nanofibers (YSZ@SnS2/Ag2S) through a facile electrospinning, hydrothermal and subsequent cation-exchange method. This hierarchical composite nanofiber consists of well-distributed Ag2S quantum dots (QDs) attached to vertical anchored SnS2 nanosheets, forming an interconnected network supported by YSZ nanofibers. The integrated sensor exhibited high response of 3.27 and swift response/recovery times of 12/27 s to 1 ppm NO2 at room temperature, respectively. Benefited from highly permeable three-dimensional continuous conductive nanofibers, along with the hierarchical nanosheets/QDs structure, the gas transmission/diffusion and number of reactive sites were ensured. Additionally, the interfacial built-in electric field of SnS2/Ag2S heterojunction further enhanced the electron transfer, carrier migration and gas-sensitive reaction kinetics. This study provides insights into the development of functional composite nanofibers and paves the way for the exploitation of real-time room-temperature gas sensing applications.

Experimental Study of Discharging Magnesium-Dissolved Oxygen Seawater Batteries with Various Binder Ratios

Magnesium-dissolved oxygen seawater batteries have open structures and flow seawater as electrolytes. These two features attract much attention. The cathode electrode is one of the key components that affect the performance of seawater batteries. In this study, seawater batteries with carbon cathodes made from three commercial carbons were investigated and discussed. The porous structure of the cathode was adjusted by changing the mass ratio between polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and carbon materials. The binder ratios range from 10% to 50%. The structure of the different porous carbon cathodes was characterized, and the discharging performance was analyzed. Results showed that the number of pores with diameters of 2–10 nm decreased as the PTFE ratio increased. Meanwhile, as the PTFE ratio increased from 10% to 50%, the seawater battery discharging voltage and capacity were first inhibited when the PTFE ratio was less than 20% but then promoted. It revealed that a balance should be achieved between the number of reaction sites and the paths for oxygen transfer. Moreover, the oxygen transfer in the porous electrode is more important for batteries working in seawater. This study practically investigates seawater batteries with various PTFE binder ratios and provides a reference for the design of magnesium-dissolved oxygen seawater batteries.

In situ synthesis of Cu nanoclusters/CeO2 nanorod as aggregated induced ECL probe for triple-negative breast cancer detection

Cu nanoclusters (NCs) have attracted a lot of attention due to the excellent properties. However, the low luminescence and poor stability limited the Cu NC-based sensing research. In this work, Cu NCs were in situ synthesized on CeO2 nanorods. On the one hand, the aggregated induced electrochemiluminescence (AIECL) of Cu NCs has been observed on the CeO2 nanorods. On the other hand, the substrate of CeO2 nanorods acted as catalysis, which reduced the excitation potential and further enhanced the ECL signal of Cu NCs. It was noticed that CeO2 nanorods also greatly improved the stability of Cu NCs. The resulted high ECL signals of Cu NCs can be kept constant for several days. Furthermore, MXene nanosheets/Au NPs has been employed as electrode modification materials to construct the sensing platform to detect miRNA-585–3p in triple negative breast cancer tissues. Au NPs@MXene nanosheets not only enlarged the specific interface area of the electrodes and the number of reaction sites, but also modulated electron transfer to amplify the ECL signal of Cu NCs. The biosensor had a low detection limit (0.9 fM) and a wide linear range (1 fM to 1 μM) for the detection of miRNA-585–3p in the clinic tissues.

Mechanistic Insight into Electron Transfer from Fe(II)-Bearing Clay Minerals to Fe (Hydr)oxides.

Electron transfer (ET) is the essence of most biogeochemical processes related to element cycling and contaminant attenuation, whereas ET between different minerals and the controlling mechanism remain elusive. Here, we used surface-associated Fe(II) as a proxy to explore ET between reduced nontronite NAu-2 (rNAu-2) and Fe (hydr)oxides in their coexisting systems. Results showed that ET could occur from rNAu-2 to ferrihydrite but not to goethite, and the ET amount was determined by the number of reactive sites and the reduction potential difference between rNAu-2 and ferrihydrite. ET proceeded mainly through the mineral-mineral interface, with a negligible contribution of dissolved Fe2+/Fe3+. Control experiments by adding K+ and increasing salinity together with characterizations by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectrometry, and atomic force microscopy suggested that ferrihydrite nanoparticles inserted the interlayer space in rNAu-2 where structural Fe(II) in rNAu-2 transferred electrons mainly through the basal plane to ferrihydrite. This study implicates the occurrence of ET between different redox-active minerals through the mineral-mineral interface. As minerals at different reduction potentials often coexist in soils/sediments, the mineral-mineral ET may play an important role in subsurface biogeochemical processes.

Effect of Mg-doping on the hydration reactivity of polycrystalline dicalcium silicate: A study explored by DFT simulation

Dicalcium silicate is widely used in belite-rich cement due to its lower Ca/Si ratio, energy consumption and CO2 emissions than tricalcium silicate, and its hydration reactivity plays an important role in the strength development of the cement. This work provides an atomic-scale understanding of the electronic structure on the hydration reactivity of C2S polycrystals and elucidates the effect of Mg-doping on their reactivity and intrinsic mechanisms. The results show that the hydration reactivity is more closely related to electrophilic attack due to the absolute numerical dominance of electrophilic active sites and the presence of steric hindrance. The hydration reactivity of α′L-C2S is mainly achieved by electrophilic attack, γ-C2S mainly by nucleophilic attack, and β-C2S by both electrophilic and nucleophilic attack. Among these three polymorphs, the order of hydration reactivity is β-C2S > α′L-C2S > γ-C2S. Mg-doping can change the crystal and electronic structure used to characterize the chemical reactivity of C2S, and the higher the hydration reactivity of intrinsic minerals, the greater the effect of Mg doping. Mg-doping causes irregular distortions in the overall structure and local coordination of α′L- and β- C2S, which coincide with the structural activation caused by impurities. The hydration hysteresis of Mg-doped α′L- and β- C2S is caused by the sharp decrease in the number of reaction sites and a more localization of the effective charge density. In contrast, the LDOS in Mg-doped γ-C2S shows slight change in both aspects, resulting small effect on its hydration activity. These insights should pave an effective way to regulate the hydration reactivity of cementitious materials by selecting suitable foreign ions.

The controllable assembly of Cu nanocluster-based aggregation induced ECL strategy for miRNA detection

Copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs) were a new class of non-toxic and economical nanoprobe. However, the low luminescence performance and instability of Cu NCs limited the actual application. Herein, this work developed the novel controllable assembly of Cu NCs aggregation as the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emitter. Firstly, the hydrophilic Cu NCs was located into the micelles in the reverse microemulsion system. Due to the uniform size of micelles, the number of Cu NCs in each micelle can be controlled exactly. Cerium ions were added to induce Cu NCs to accumulate in micelles. The strong aggregation induced ECL (AIECL) signal can be observed in the controllable assembly of Cu NCs aggregation. The nano-sized Cu NCs assembly not only possessed more strong luminescence and better stability than original Cu NCs, but also kept the good dispersibility over the aggregated bulk. Furthermore, SnS2 nanosheets increased the specific surface area of the electrode and the number of reactive sites, which further modulated electron transfer to amplify the ECL signal. The ECL sensing system was used to detect miRNA-455–3p in the triple-negative breast cancer tumor tissues. The work provided the new pathway to prepare Cu NCs assembly and expanded AIECL-based sensing application.

Use of aqueous polyol monomer for superior dye separation performance and high chlorine resistance of thin-film composite polyester nanofiltration membranes

Search for efficient wastewater treatment process is still upsurging because of water scarcity brought about by continuous industrialization. This includes efforts to discover the best materials to use for possible solutions to this global problem. In this work, application of three polyols as aqueous monomers were explored as material for fabricating nanofiltration membranes for dye desalination. These polyols are D-sorbiltol (DST), pentaerythritol (PET) and erythritol (ERT). Separately, they use to react with trimesoyl chloride (TMC) on top of polyethersulfone (PES) support through interfacial polymerization. ATR-FTIR and XPS analysis confirmed the successful formation of the polyester layer. Different monomers provide different surface hydrophilicity and surface charged. These properties were mostly depending on the number of reactive sites and the chemical structure of the aqueous monomer. DST consists of 6 hydroxyl groups and a linear structure, when reacts with TMC, it produces a dense selective layer with low permeation flux. ERT with only 4 hydroxyl groups and a linear structure, produced looser polyester layer. Compared with ERT, PET has a nonlinear structure with 4 hydroxyl groups, produced denser structure, because its structure has a less steric hindrance. Furthermore, TFCERT showed a superior chlorine resistance up to 24,000 ppm∙h. Therefore, the suitable monomer for dye desalination was ERT, where TFCERT delivered the highest water flux, high dye/salt selectivity and excellent chlorine resistance.

Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Cell with a Barrier Layer Free Oxygen Electrode and Phase Inversion Derived Hydrogen Electrode

High-temperature solid oxide cells (SOCs) have fundamental advantages in efficiency and product rate over their low-temperature counterparts. However, the commercial development of SOCs is hindered by cost and reliability. To solve the issues, lowering the operating temperature of SOCs is deemed the best solution. Here we report on our effort toward intermediate temperature (IT) SOCs by developing a barrier layer free high-performance oxygen electrode and open structured hydrogen electrode. The results show that the new oxygen electrode provides reasonably good oxygen electrocatalytic activity at IT range for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions and the open structured hydrogen electrode provides low gas diffusion path for H2/H2O. However, at high electrolysis current density such as 1 A cm−2 and 650 °C, the present oxygen electrode delaminates after 200 h. The phase-inversion derived open structured hydrogen electrode helps gas diffusion but, in the meantime, reduces reactive sites. A proper balance of porosity and number of reactive sites is still needed for future hydrogen electrode development.

Relationship between Anti-Wrinkle Property of Cotton Fabrics and Crosslinking Properties of Glycosyl Polyaldehydes and Polyuronic Acids Finishing Agents: A Molecular Simulation Study

In this paper, monosaccharide (glucose and fructose), disaccharide (sucrose and trehalose), trisaccharide (raffinose) and tetrasaccharide (stachyose) were selected as the research objects and the glycosyl polyaldehydes and glycosyl polyuronic acid anti-wrinkle finishing agents were prepared via selective oxidation. The anti-wrinkle properties of their finished fabrics were analyzed, the molecular radius, the number of reactive groups, the number of reaction sites and the number of rotatable bonds of the finishing agent were calculated to evaluate its diffusion rate and crosslinking characteristics inside the cellulose. Through molecular simulation, the number of possible conformations of the anti-wrinkle finishing agent with the single cross-linked state was calculated, and the distance between different cross-linking points was measured, and the relationship between the effective cross-linking radius and the anti-wrinkle performance was studied. The results showed that trehalose polyaldehydes, raffinose polyaldehydes, trehalose polyuronic acid, and raffinose polyuronic acid finished fabrics had an excellent anti-wrinkle property, the strength retention rates of the fabrics were all above 68%, and the whiteness index was above 70. The smaller the molecular radius was, the easier the finishing agent was to diffuse into the cellulose. The most suitable crosslinking radius of glycosyl finishing agent was 3.5–6.0 Å.

Remove of ammoniacal nitrogen wastewater by ultrasound/Mg/Al2O3/O3

A large amount of ammoniacal nitrogen wastewater discharged into the water body not only causes eutrophication and black and offensive odor in water, but also increases the difficulty and cost of water treatment, and even produces toxic effects on people and organisms. In this paper, degradation of ammoniacal nitrogen wastewater by the system of ultrasound/Mg/Al2O3/ozone (US/Mg/Al2O3/O3) was carried out. The effects of different influencing factors, such as initial pH of the solution, reaction time, temperature, catalyst addition, ozone flow rate, and ultrasonic intensity, on the degradation of ammoniacal nitrogen wastewater were investigated. The optimum reaction conditions were determined. The combination of ultrasonic technology and ozone oxidation technology can enhance the mass transfer of ozone and generate a large amount of HO. Due to Mg/Al2O3 catalyst has large surface area, the number of reactive sites and reaction molecule transport channels per unit area increases, resulting in the increase of HO on the surface, thus improving the catalytic activity. The introduction of ultrasound promotes the cleavage of N–H bonds on the catalyst surface, thereby promoting the degradation of ammoniacal nitrogen in the water. Results prove that there is not only a synergistic effect between ultrasound and catalytic ozone oxidation, but a strengthening effect of ultrasound on catalytic ozone oxidation. The research carried out in this paper provides a theoretical basis for the degradation of ammoniacal nitrogen in water.

Structure and photocatalytic properties of the composite of Al-doped porous ZnO hollow micro-spheres and Ag nanoparticles

Al-doped porous ZnO hollow micro-spheres were prepared using a sol-gel method with a template of agglomerates of polystyrene (PS) nanospheres, and the composite of these ZnO hollow micro-spheres and Ag nanoparticles was prepared with further photo-deposition. The effects of Al doped on the structure and the optical properties of the specimen were investigated by means of x-ray diffractometer, SEM, TEM, an UV-Vis diffuse reflectance analyzer, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Different doping concentrations of Al affect not only the existing form of Al atoms in the crystal but also the concentration of the intrinsic defects of ZnO, thus influencing the morphology of the hollow micro-spheres. The appropriate amount of Al doping provides the hollow spheres with a porous, loose morphology, showing the largest specific surface area, which significantly improves the absorbance of light and the number of reaction sites in photocatalysis. For the composite specimen, the introduction of Ag nanoparticles improves the absorbance of light in the visible region because of the surface plasmon resonance: in the PL measurements, because many electrons in the ZnO crystal flow to the surface of Ag nanoparticles due to the difference of energy levels between Ag and ZnO crystals, the intensity of the intrinsic and defect-related emissions of ZnO is reduced. The photocatalytic properties of the specimens were evaluated with the degradation of a methyl orange dye solution under simulated solar irradiation at room temperature. The specimen of porous ZnO hollow micro-spheres with 3% Al dopant concentration demonstrates excellent photocatalytic performance due to its large specific surface area. However, with the designed energy structure, the composite of porous ZnO hollow micro-spheres and Ag nanoparticles exhibits the best photocatalytic performance among the specimens tested by separating electrons and holes in the ZnO crystal.

Cu NPs-embedded cross-linked microporous 3D reduced graphene hydrogels as photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution

Three-dimensionally (3D) structured Cu nanoparticles (NPs)-embedded graphene hydrogels were synthesized from inexpensive graphite and low-cost copper acetate by a novel self-assembly and in-situ slow-release photoreduction method. The cross-linked microporous 3D reduced graphene oxide framework ensures full contact of the photocatalyst with water and promotes electron transfer. The EDA-reduced Cu-rGH hydrogel with an 11.3% Cu NPs mass ratio exhibits the best hydrogen evolution rate (16.92 mmol·g−1·h−1). This rate is almost 17 times faster than pure Cu NPs. EDA played an important role in both forming a hydrogel as the reducing agent and slowly releasing Cu NPs as a ligand in the process of in-situ photoreduction, allowing small sized and uniformly distributed Cu NPs. Therefore, the number of reaction sites in the composite increases and the recombination of photoinduced electron-hole pairs in Cu NPs decreases. Under irradiation, the SPR-excited (surface plasmon resonance) hot electrons from Cu NPs quickly transfer through the rGH channel. 3D rGH was found to be a promising substrate for boosting hydrogen production by Cu NPs.

Kinetic model of two-monomer polymerization.

We propose a kinetic gelation model of polymer growth with two monomeric types that have distinct functionalities (reaction sites), and can polymerize using different reaction types. The heterotypic aggregation of two monomer types is modeled using a moment generating function approach by tracking the temporal evolution of a closed system of moment equations up until gelation. We investigate several scenarios of polymerization with two distinct monomers that differ in the types of reactions that can occur. We determine numerical and analytical conditions for finite time blow-up (the emergence of an oligomer of infinite size) that depend on initial conditions, reaction rates, and number of reaction sites per monomer.

Preparation of Multi-Functional Polyester Fabrics with the Use of a New Organo-Clay Nanopigment in High Temperature/High Pressure Condition

For the first time, the ability of dyeing the montmorillonite (Mt) mineral with reactive dye aiming to prepare a new nanopigment was investigated and the optimum conditions were determined. The prepared nanopigment was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FTIR), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), reflectance spectrophotometer (RS) and colorimetry analyses. The results showed that the dye molecules were attached to the hydroxyl groups of Mt plates through a covalent linkage. Also, the BET surface area values slightly increased after the dyeing process due to the separation of Mt plates and the reduction of particle size because of penetration of dye molecules among the plates. Colorimetry analysis revealed that the intercalation of dye molecules was depended on dye concentration and number of reactive sites on the Mt surface. The prepared nanopigment was used for dyeing the polyester fabric in high pressure and temperature conditions. The SEM, colorimetry, electromagnetic reflectance, flammability, and TGA tests were performed to investigate the properties of fabrics. Results indicated that intercalation of Mt nanopigment in the polyester fiber enhances the flame retardant, electromagnetic reflection and breathability of fabrics. Also, the optimum amount of nanopigment in the dyeing process was reported. It can be suggested that the prepared fabric can be a good candidate for utilizing in military and electronic aspects.

(Invited) Atomic-Scale Investigations of TiO2 surfaces in Ambient and Solution Environments

Earth-abundant metal oxide nanocrystals have attracted a great deal of attention for environmental remediation and photocatalysis. These materials are attractive because they are inexpensive, they are typically very stable under reactive conditions, and their semiconducting nature enables efficient generation of long-lived photocarriers that can initiate chemical reactions. Nevertheless, an atomic-scale understanding of their reactivity in ambient and solution environments has proven elusive for two reasons. First, the complex milieu of reactants in these environments makes the discrimination of surface chemistry from adventitious contamination difficult. Second, the small size of nanocatalysts prohibits face-specific studies with most surface science techniques. In this talk, I will review our work in developing “new eyes” for nanocatalysis that address both issues. Over the past few years, researchers around the world have observed the formation of mysterious molecularly ordered structures on the surface of TiO2 photocatalysts in air and solution. These structures have been attributed to many causes, including a new ordered state of adsorbed H2O — persistent in vacuum at room temperature — in which one H2O molecule adsorbs to every other surface Ti atom. Using a combination of atomic-scale microscopy and spectroscopy, we show that these structures are due to the highly selective adsorption of atmospheric formic and acetic acids that are typically present in parts-per-billion concentrations. These surfaces effectively repel other adsorbates, such as alcohols, present in much higher concentrations. The high affinity of the surface towards carboxylic acids is attributed to their bidentate binding. The self-assembled organic acid monolayers have the unusual property of being both hydrophobic and highly water soluble, which may contribute to the self-cleaning properties of TiO2. Interestingly, these monolayers block the undercoordinated surface cation sites typically implicated in photocatalysis. In related work, we have shown that hydrothermal crystal growth techniques can produce anatase nanocrystals suitable for study at the atomic-scale with STM and other surface science techniques, as shown in the accompanying figure. Despite being synthesized in solution, the nanocrystal surfaces are very clean and passivated by a protecting monolayer. Using these crystals, we have shown that the most commonly used functionalization chemistry for oxide nanocatalysts, a carboxylic acid solution, causes the spontaneous reorganization of the nanocatalyst, leading to a five-fold increase in the number of reactive sites and revealing the atomic-scale origins of catalyst activation. Finally, we have investigated the structure of solution-deposited monolayers on TiO2 and demonstrated a rational approach to tuning intermolecular interactions and enabling long-range ordering. We show that simple electrostatic insights can be used to engineer away unfavorable intermolecular interactions, producing monolayers with exceptional long-range ordering. Quantitative measurements of the intermolecular interaction energies from molecularly resolved STM images are a factor of ~7 larger than those predicted by dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT). The discrepancy between experiment and simulation is not currently understood. This finding suggests a new path to the production of highly ordered monolayers and superstructures of large molecules. Figure 1

Direct Visualization of Ultra-Fast and Micro-Scale Bubble Evolutions and Electrochemical Reactions in Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer Cells

The electrochemical reactions and two-phase flow that occur in energy devices could be a very important part in promoting energy efficiency of both engineering and sciences. The electrochemical reactions only occur at a micro scale at the center part of the electrochemical devices like fuel cells and electrolyzers. The objective of this research is to visualize the bubble generation and growth process inside a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cell (PEMEC) by taking advantage of the thin/well tunable liquid gas diffusion layer (LGDL) and high-speed visualization system. The effects of temperature, current density, and flow rate on bubble dynamics in pore scale and multiphase flow in channel scale, including bubble nucleation, growth, and detachment, are investigated. The reaction sites and rapid bubble evolution phenomena are captured under various operating conditions. The number of reaction sites and bubble growth rates increases with the operating current density and temperature, while the flow rate in the channel has limited effects. The gas bubbles are observed to emerge at the edge of the LGDL pores and gradually detach from the reaction sites. This work will provide a pathway to further investigate the electrochemical reaction in energy devices.

Atomistic Insights into Hydration Reactivity of Clinker Crystals with Chemical Impurity

In this work, multiple theoretical methods including Fukui functions, effective charges, localization index, and density of states are employed to clarify the influence of Zn impurity on hydration reactivity of clinker phases at atomic level. Zn ions are found to decrease the number of reactive sites and effective charges of tricalcium silicate and tricalcium aluminate dramatically, which could account for the significant retarding effect in these two phases. For tetracalcium aluminoferrite, Zn doping causes no influence on the number of reactive sites but an increase of effective charges and total localization index, which implies somewhat reactivity promotion. PDOS analysis suggests this particular effect of tetracalcium aluminoferrite is due to the strong localization capacity of Fe-3d states. Our calculated results is in good agreement with previous experimental observations.

Effect of Molar Ratio of Ruthenium and Antimony on Corrosion Mechanism of Ti/Sn-Sb-RuOx Electrode for Zinc Electrowinning

In this study, a Ti/Sn-Sb-RuOx electrode was prepared by thermal decomposition technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to analyze the microstructure and composition of the prepared coating. The composition of the prepared electrode was analyzed by X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The electrochemically active area can be measured by the number of reactive sites in the electrochemical reaction. Electrochemical workstations were used to test the anodic polarization curve (LSV), AC impedance test (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The electrochemical properties of the electrode could be obtained. It was found that the oxygen evolution overpotentials of the electrode prepared at a Ru:Sb molar ratio of 2:1 are the lowest and is 0.3058 V under the conditions of 500 A/m2. The surface morphology is a block-like crack structure. The electrode prepared at a Ru:Sb molar ratio of 2:1 obtained a larger electrochemical active area. With the increase of Ru, the life is gradually increased to 103 h.

Evaluation of Nanotechniques and Conventional Techniques for the Removal of Dioxins

Background: The persistent dioxins/furans has caused a worldwide concern as they influence the human health. Recent research indicates that nonmaterial may prove effective in the degradation of Dioxins/furans. The nanomaterials are very reactive owing to their large surface area to volume ratio and large number of reactive sites. However, nanotechnology applications face both the challenges and the opportunities to influence the area of environmental protection. Objective: i) To study the impact of oil mediated UV-irradiations on the removal of 2,3,7,8-TCDD, 2,3,7,8-TCDF, OCDD and OCDF in simulated soil samples. ii) To compare the conventional treatment methods with the modern available nanotechniques for the removal of selected Dioxins/furans from soil samples. Methods: The present work has investigated an opportunity of the degradation of tetra and octachlorinated dioxins and furans by using oil mediated UV radiations with subsequent extraction of respective dioxins/furans from soils. The results have been compared with the available nanotechniques. Results: The dioxin congeners in the simulated soil sample showed decrease in concentration with the increase in the exposure time and intensity of UV radiations. The dechlorination of PCDD/Fs using palladized iron has been found to be effective. Conclusion: Both the conventional methods and nanotechnology have a dramatic impact on the removal of Dioxins/furans in contaminated soil. However, the nanotechniques are comparatively costlier and despite the relatively high rates of PCDDs dechlorination by Pd/nFe, small fraction of the dioxins are recalcitrant to degradation over considerable exposure times.