Pollution Problems Research Articles

Causes and Impacts of Water Pollution on Various water bodies in the State of Rajasthan, India: A Review

Water quality and water resources make an impression on the social, economic and political advancement of society. With the rapid growth of urbanization and industrialization linked with economic and social needs, the pollution of water has reached a level of no return. Water is defined as harmful for human and aquatic lives when it is become contaminated by unexpected substances such as heavy metals, agricultural and industrial chemicals, hydrocarbon fuels, radioactive materials, sewage, pharmaceutical drugs, and biologic agents such as bacteria, parasites, and viruses. This water is considered polluted or contaminated (Bagul et al. 2015), The problem of water pollution becomes more hazardous in a region where availability of water is critically less like the state of Rajasthan (Coyte et al. 2019). The situation of surface water pollution in arid and semi-arid areas of state is alarming. We know that every living being needs water for their survival. All living being intake water directly or indirectly from various water resources. Intake of polluted water would be harmful for them. Transport of bio-accumulative pollutants to food chain makes the situation more grievous. So, it is the need of the hour to examine the magnitude and range of water pollution in the water bodies, especially in the state like Rajasthan. In the present scenario we can’t prevent water to being polluted totally but the scaling down of pollution is imperative. It is high time to take some steps to educate and spread awareness to the people regarding this alarming issue.

Electromagnetic wave absorbing biomass kelp derived porous carbon anchored by Fe3O4 nanocomposites

Increasingly serious electromagnetic pollution problems bring the threaten for national defense security and personal health, biomass carbon materials derived absorbers have arouse widespread interest due to their green, easy accessibility, structural diversity, rich functional groups. Herein, biomass kelp derived three-dimension (3D) porous carbon/Fe3O4 (KPC/Fe3O4) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized vis KOH activation as well as in-situ growth of Fe3O4 and following pyrolysis. Attributed to multiple transmission paths for electromagnetic wave from 3D porous structure, dielectric-magnetic synergistic effect, and numerous defects in the kelp-derived carbon with polarization loss caused by heteroatom doping and interfacial polarization, KPC/Fe3O4 nanocomposites possess outstanding impedance matching and extraordinary attenuation ability. In particular, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value of KPC/Fe3O4-0.1 nanocomposite reaches −75.02 dB at 10.5 GHz as well as the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL < -10 dB) value achieves 4.83 GHz with a thickness of 2.85 mm. Unique structures and excellent EWA performance demonstrate that KPC/Fe3O4 nanocomposites can serve as potential absorbers for military and civilian fields.

Synergistic Construction of Superhydrophilic PVDF Membranes by Dual Modification Strategies for Efficient Emulsion Separation.

Solving the problem of oil and water pollution is an important topic in environmental protection. The separation of oil-water emulsion with high efficiency and low consumption has been the direction of social efforts. Membrane separation technology combined with surface wettability and pore size screening is considered to be one of the most promising ways to separate oil-water emulsions. In this paper, the polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane is prepared by combining the two methods of blending and coating modification as a double barrier. The prepared PVDF membrane can completely wet water, achieve superhydrophilic in air, and superoleophobic underwater. The separation efficiency and flux are 99.57% and 678 L h-1 m-2 bar-1, respectively, for toluene emulsions containing surfactants with an average particle size of 1.7µm. At the same time, it can also effectively separate different kinds of light/heavy oils. After three cycles of testing still maintain high efficiency of separation. The results show that the prepared PVDF membrane can effectively separate the emulsion containing surfactant with smaller particle size distribution of oil droplets. This method provides a new strategy for the separation of oil-water emulsions and has broad application prospects.

Comparative Analysis of the Predictive Performance of an ANN and Logistic Regression for the Acceptability of Eco-Mobility Using the Belgrade Data Set

To solve the problem of environmental pollution caused by road traffic, alternatives to vehicles with internal combustion engines are often proposed. As such, eco-mobility microvehicles have significant potential in the fight against environmental pollution, but only on the condition that they are widely accepted and that they replace the vehicles that predominantly pollute the environment. With this in mind, this study aims to elucidate the main variables that influence the acceptability of these vehicles, using prediction models based on binary logistic regression and a multilayer artificial neural network—a multilayer perceptron (ANN). The data of a random sample obtained via an online questionnaire, answered by 503 inhabitants of Belgrade (Serbia), were used for training and testing the model. A multilayer perceptron with 9 and 7 neurons in two hidden layers, a hyperbolic tangent activation function in the hidden layer, and an identity function in the output layer performed slightly better than the binary logistic regression model. With an accuracy of 85%, a precision of 79%, a recall of 81%, and an area under the ROC curve of 0.9, the multilayer perceptron model recognized the influential variables in predicting acceptability. The results of the model indicate that a respondent’s relationship to their current environmental pollution, the frequency of their use of modes of transport such as bicycles and motorcycles, their mileage for commuting, and their personal income have the greatest influence on the acceptability of using eco-mobility vehicles.

Preparation of tomato peel pomace powder/polylactic acid foams under supercritical CO2 conditions: Improvements in cell structure and foaming behavior.

Polylactic acid (PLA) is an eco-friendly material that can help address the problems of petroleum depletion and pollution. Blending renewable biomass materials with PLA to create composite foams with a tunable pore structure, superior performance, and low cost is a green technique for improving the pore structure and mechanical characteristics of single PLA foams. PLA/TP composites were created using melted tomato peel pomace powder (TP), which has a lamellar structure, as a reinforcing agent. Then, the relationship between the vesicle structure, morphology, and properties of the PLA/TP composite foams produced through supercritical CO2 intermittent foaming were investigated. The findings revealed that TP considerably enhanced the rheological characteristics and crystalline behavior of PLA. The PLA/TP composite foam had a better cell structure, compression characteristics, and wettability than pure PLA. The expansion ratio of the PLA/TP composite could reach 18.8, and its thermal conductivity decreased from 174.2 mW/m·K at 100 °C to 57.8 mW/m·K at 120 °C. Furthermore, annealing before foaming decreased the average composite foam blister size from 110.09 to 66.53 μm, and the annealing process also improved compression performance. This study contributes to solving environmental difficulties and creating PLA foams with controlled bubble structures, uniform bubble sizes, and outstanding overall performance.

Enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption in ultrathin cement-based composites with integrated multi-dimensional carbon materials

The challenges posed by electromagnetic waves (EMW) cause significant interference in electronic device operation, jeopardizing information security and disturbing normal biological functions, which necessitate attention. Multi-scale carbon/cement-based composites were developed for EMW absorption by integrating multi-dimensional carbon materials, including carbon nanotubes (1D), graphene (2D), and modified carbon microspheres (3D). These composites demonstrate exceptional EMW absorption capabilities, with a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −44.32 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 3.644 GHz at X band, merely having a thickness of 1.90 mm. Furthermore, the superior EMW absorption properties of these composites are confirmed through radar cross-section (RCS) simulation and electric field distribution analysis. A small house is constructed of designed three-layer multi-scale carbon/cement-based composites in which the actual EMW reflection losses are less than –10 dB within the whole test frequency range, and these composites can effectively obstruct 5 G mobile phone signals. Therefore, multi-scale carbon/cement-based composites could be promising candidates for effectively solving the increasingly serious problem of electromagnetic radiation pollution.

Evaluation of vegetable green logistics in Lanling County of China based on DEMATEL-ANP-FCE model

IntroductionDue to the problems of greenhouse gas emissions, noise pollution, and vegetable waste pollution during the transportation of vegetables, it is not conducive to the sustainable development of the environment. To mitigate the pollution of the environment during transportation, vegetable green logistics plays a pivotal role in promoting both environmental sustainability and high-quality economic development. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the development of vegetable green logistics.MethodsThis research builds a DEMATEL-ANP-FCE model to scientifically assess the development of vegetable green logistics in Lanling County. In the first place, the model uses DEMATEL to verify the relationship and degree of influence between the primary indexes. In the second place, the ANP approach with Super Decisions software to determine the weights of the indexes at each level. Lastly, evaluating and scoring vegetable green logistics in Lanling County based on FCE.Results and discussionThe results of the study show that there is an interaction relationship between the primary evaluation indexes, and its evaluation score is low, the vegetable logistics in Lanling County has not reached the degree of greening. Accordingly, the evaluation results obtained by the DEMATEL-ANP-FCE model in this work are in line with the actual situation of vegetable green logistics in Lanling County, which verifies that the model has good applicability. Moreover, managerial contributions for promoting the development of vegetable green logistics in Lanling County are put forward in response to the evaluation situation. Expecting to enhance the greening level of vegetable logistical development and advance agricultural sustainability. Finally, all four questions raised in this paper are well addressed. This study also provides a new perspective and evaluation model for future related research.

Dynamic Bayesian Game Optimization Method for Multi-Energy Hub Systems with Incomplete Load Information

The interconnection of Energy Hub can enhance the energy efficiency and reliability associated with the independent operation of energy systems. However, the traditional optimal scheduling methods are hard to tackle the situation with the incomplete load information and competitive constraints of a multi-Energy Hub. This paper proposes a dynamic Bayesian game optimization scheduling strategy considering incomplete information on users’ load-side demand. First, a load forecast error coefficient is introduced to handle the conditional probability problem caused by incomplete information through the Bayesian rule. The constraint relationship among multi-Energy Hub under the dynamic price mechanism is analyzed to meet the economic and environmental coordination goals under load uncertainty. Second, extending from Nash equilibrium to Bayes Nash equilibrium proves the existence and uniqueness of Nash equilibrium solutions in Bayesian game models. The decision game algorithm is used to optimize the scheduling of the multi-Energy Hub and subsequently ensure the autonomous scheduling of the system and solve the information barriers. Finally, an Integrated Energy System composed of three Energy Hubs was used to validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed optimization method. Results show that under the Bayesian game decision, the multi-Energy Hub game model has reduced the total cost of the Integrated Energy System by 0.78%, which can improve the economic benefit and address the environmental pollution problem.

Synthesis, characterisation and application of organic and inorganic bentonite for the removal of gentian violet

ABSTRACT The intensive use of dyes in industry has caused serious pollution problems, due to industrial wastewater discharges. It is well known that dyes have harmful effects on humans, animals, and other living beings. Therefore, the treatment of industrial wastewater before its release into the environment requires great attention. This work is devoted to the study of the effect of organic modifications by DMSO and/or CTAB and an inorganic modification by spinel oxide ZnCr2O4 on the structural and textural properties of local clay (M’Zila bentonite). The materials resulting from these modifications are used as adsorbents for a cationic dye such as gentian violet. These materials were synthesised and characterised by XRD, FTIR, BET and SEM. These analyzes confirmed the considerable changes in the structure of the clays modified by DMSO and/or CTAB- ZnCr2O4, the formation of pillared bentonites and the increase in the basal spacing’s of the modified clays by 15.05 Å for the bentonite of M’Zila at 23.80 Å for bentonite-CTAB-ZnCr2O4 (BCZnCr), at 27.37 Å for bentonite-DMSO-ZnCr2O4 (BDZnCr) and at 25.89 Å for bentonite-DMSO-CTAB-ZnCr2O4 (BDCZnCr).These modifications produced a rougher and more porous surface, resulting in a significant increase in the specific surface area from 60.13 m2 g−1 for sodium bentonite to 104.63 m2 g−1 for BCZnCr and 104.59 m2 g−1 for BDCZnCr. The adsorption of gentian violet was carried out under the following conditions: solid liquid ratio: 1 g/L, pH = 10 and contact time at equilibrium 1 h. The adsorption kinetics perfectly follows the pseudo second order model as well as that of intraparticle diffusion for all materials. The isotherms are of type S; they are well described by the Langmuir-Freundlich model. The thermodynamic parameters indicate that the physisorption of gentian violet by the different materials is spontaneous, exothermic, and disordered.

Study of Bacterization of Medicago sativa L. and Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. During the Process of Phytoremediation of Oil-contaminated Soils

Recultivation of oil-contaminated soils on the Absheron Peninsula is one of the most important environmental and social problems for this region. One of the promising ways to solve the problem of soil pollution with petroleum hydrocarbons is the development of methods and approaches for their purification and detoxification in situ, and above all, biodetoxification and bioremediation. In a model vegetation experiment using complex systems of a mixture of plants and microorganisms, phytoremediation of soil contaminated with crude oil at a concentration of 15 g/kg was investigated. It has been established that the inoculation of plants with the modified Fermi-Start biological product affects the number of rhizosphere microorganisms that stimulate plant growth, as well as the degree of purification of gray-brown soil from oil. Cynodon dactylon is an effective biosystem for the remediation of oil-contaminated gray-brown soils as it is modified by a culture of an oil-oxidizing microorganism of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa, isolated from oil-contaminated gray-brown soil, the Fermi-Start biological product and belongs to the group of “effective microorganisms”, associated with plants — Medicago sativa. The joint introduction of the Fermi-Start biological product and the culture of P. aeruginosa had the greatest protective effect on seedlings from exposure to crude oil. The height of the shoots increased by 71% compared with the negative control, in parallel, the degree of oil degradation increased to 24%. A significant role of alfalfa in stimulating the number of rhizosphere microorganisms capable of hydrocarbon degradation has been revealed. This is confirmed by data showing that the number of microorganisms in the plant rhizoplane was 1–2 orders of magnitude higher (about 1.1×107 on average) than in the rhizosphere (about 1.4×105 on average), which may be due to secretion of plant root exudates. The results of the research allow us to recommend the use of a plant-microbial biosystem consisting of Medicago sativa and Cynodon dactylon, together with a Fermi-Start modified biological product for phytoremediation of gray-brown soil contaminated with crude oil.

Education 4.0 framework for sustainable entrepreneurship through transdisciplinary and abductive thinking: a case study

The global challenges and problems that threaten sustainability and human well-being demand the provision of creative, innovative, and affordable solutions so that they are within the reach of different levels of society. From the point of view of Higher Education, this is a major challenge since it is responsible for training new generations with the competencies and knowledge that allow them to respond to contemporary challenges and problems. This study provides a framework to promote sustainable entrepreneurship through transdisciplinary and abductive thinking. This combination of approaches will allow students to identify, analyze, and understand contemporary problems and, through a systematized process based on the “design thinking” design model, propose creative, innovative, and affordable solutions that can be implemented through entrepreneurship mechanisms. The identified findings that will be presented in this work are (i) the relevance of the Education 4.0 model as a reference to promote transdisciplinarity in a current teaching-learning context, (ii) The relevance of “design for sustainable development” as a trigger for sustainable entrepreneurship, (iii) The formation of desirable competencies in the profile of the higher education student based on transdisciplinarity and abductive thinking within the active learning process, and (iv) quantitative and qualitative measurement that allows measuring acceptance and evaluation of the long-term sustainability of the solutions obtained. This work will present the implementation of the proposed framework through a case study. This case study allowed us to identify elements of the proposed reference framework. The case study will address the problem of water scarcity and pollution, describing initiatives to achieve ODS 6, where it explains how sustainable and visionary solutions can be forged through transdisciplinary collaboration and abductive thinking. The project named “STEAM-mural fountain” done by a transdisciplinary working team between academia-society-industry is described, which aims to make technological advances in water treatment and monitoring visible to society.

High‐quality and efficient recovery of waste agricultural mulch film mixture via solid‐state shear milling technology

High‐quality and efficient recovery of waste agricultural mulch film mixture via solid‐state shear milling technology

Bike Rental System

Bike Rental System

Forecasting the Exceedances of PM2.5 in an Urban Area

Forecasting the Exceedances of PM2.5 in an Urban Area

Construction of biodegradable superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic materials with CNF (cellulose nanofiber) fence-like attached on the surface for efficient oil/water emulsion separation

Superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic materials for the separation of oil-water emulsions by filtration have received much attention in order to solve the pollution problem of oil-water emulsion. In this paper, a fence-like structure on the surface of CNF/KGM (Konjac Glucomannan) materials by a simple method using CNF instead of metal nanowires was successfully developed based on the hydrogen bonding of KGM and CNF. The resulted organic CNF/KGM materials surface has outstanding superhydrophilic (WCA = 0°) in air and superoleophobicity (OCA≥151°) in water, which could separate oil-water mixtures with high separation efficiency above 99.14 % under the pressure of the emulsion itself. The material shows good mechanical properties because of the addition of CNF and has outstanding anti-fouling property and reusability. More importantly, the material can be completely biodegraded after buried in soil for 4 weeks since both of KGM and CNF are organic substances. Therefore, it may have a broad application prospect in the separation of oil-water emulsion because of its outstanding separation properties, simply preparation method and biodegradability.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN IRAQ (AN APPLIED STUDY ON THE REALITY OF THE IRAQI ECONOMY)

The research aims to study the environmental impacts resulting from the practice of various economic activities, which have serious repercussions on the environment, which represents the comprehensive container for the elements of natural wealth, and on society and life in general. The problem of environmental pollution is represented by the transformation of many environmental resources, represented by rivers, water bodies, air, and soil, from being free commodities to being economic commodities whose supply is characterized by relative commodities. This problem is expected to worsen if the volume of economic activity continues to increase. It is clear that economic progress is accompanied by an increase in the costs that must be borne to keep the environment clean, and economists distinguish between private costs and social costs. It is possible, in principle, to control or limit pollution resulting from economic activity through multiple means and policies, the most important of which is the policy of state intervention, directly or indirectly, through the use of its economic tools such as taxes and subsidies. The problem of environmental pollution is a global problem that no country can get rid of, and Iraq is one of the countries that has suffered greatly from this problem over the past three decades as a result of the scourges of wars, neglect, poverty, destruction, etc., all of which have had a negative impact on the Iraqi environment, in addition to the fact that Agricultural and industrial economic activities in particular and the methods used in them have also been reflected in the exacerbation of this problem.

Subnanometer‐sized CuOx Clusters on TiO2 as Active Photocatalysts for Ammonia Production from Photocatalytic Nitration Reduction Reaction

The Haber‐Bosch process is commonly used to produce ammonia while consuming energy and yielding huge emissions of carbon dioxide. Finding an alternative way to produce ammonia sustainably is a promising research direction with less CO2 emission. Photochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NtRR) to ammonia (NH3) could solve the nitrate pollutant problem in water and approach to produce ammonia with a more environmentally friendly process and lower energy consumption. In this work, the subnanometer‐sized copper oxide clusters decorated on titanium oxide nanoparticles (CuOx‐TiO2) were synthesized through the hydrothermal method and calcination treatment. CuOx‐TiO2 demonstrated impressively conversion rate of NO3‐ to NH3 with a yield of 153.09 μg‐gcat‐1‐h‐1 in KNO3 solution. The characteristic structure analysis revealed CuOx clusters with ~less than 1 nm decorated on TiO2 nanoparticles. From in‐situ X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopic technique, the transformation of the oxidation state of Cu clusters and the changes of local structure in the CuOx‐TiO2 were observed. The photocatalytic reaction mechanism of nitrate reduction on the CuOx‐TiO2 was successfully revealed. These discoveries have broad implications for the functional advancement of catalysts based on subnanometer‐sized clusters. Our findings may pave the way for exploring advanced ammonia synthesis routes with reduced energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Indian Constitutional Perspective of Environmental Justice: an Analytical Study with Reference to PIL and Precedents

The problem of environmental pollution has assumed massive and grave proportions over the decades. It has been left to the courts in India to go behind the letter of the law into the spirit of the law to find out the plausible solutions for the problem though evolution of the law of public nuisance into environmental law. Though the implementation of statutory provisions, as also by embracing various international doctrines, the Supreme Court of India as well as various High Courts have tried time and again to develop environment-friendly justice in India through the recognition of the principle of Sustainable Development. However, the actions of the judiciary had been under attacks from other organs of the State alleging that the judiciary is transgressing its boundaries and stepping into the realms of the executive and the legislature. This paper is an effort to trace the environmental justice in India and to find out whether judicial activism can actually lead to sustainable development.

Autonomous Surface Water Cleaning Robots

Autonomous Surface Water Cleaning Robots

Selective Photoreforming of Waste Plastics into Diesel Olefins via Single Reactive Oxygen Species

The accumulation of plastic waste poses a pressing environmental challenge. Catalytic conversion stands out as an ideal approach for plastics upcycling, particularly through solar‐driven plastics photoreforming. However, due to the common effects of multiple reactive oxygen species (ROS), selectively generating high‐value chemicals becomes challenging. In this study, we developed a universal strategy to achieve &gt;85% selective production of diesel olefins (C15‐C28) from polyolefin waste plastics via single ROS. Using tetrakis (4‐carboxyphenyl) porphyrin supramolecular (TCPP) with different central metals as an example to regulate single ROS generation, results show Ni‐TCPP facilitates triplet exciton production, yielding 1O2, while Zn‐TCPP generates •O2− due to its strong built‐in electric field (IEF). 1O2 directly dechlorinates polyvinyl chloride (PVC) due to the electro‐negativity of chlorine atoms and the low dissociation energy of C‐Cl bonds, while •O2− promotes direct dehydrogenation of polyethylene (PE) due to the electro‐positivity of hydrogen atoms and the high dissociation energy of C‐H bonds. This method is universally applicable to various single ROS systems. Installation experiments further affirm the application potential, achieving the highest diesel olefin production of 76.1 μmol·h‐1. Such a universally adaptive approach holds promise for addressing the global plastic pollution problem.