scholarly journals Synthesis and Water Treatment Applications of Nanofibers by Electrospinning

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1779
Author(s):  
Saumya Agrawal ◽  
Rashmi Ranjan ◽  
Bajrang Lal ◽  
Ashiqur Rahman ◽  
Swatantra P. Singh ◽  
...  

In the past few decades, the role of nanotechnology has expanded into environmental remediation applications. In this regard, nanofibers have been reported for various applications in water treatment and air filtration. Nanofibers are fibers of polymeric origin with diameters in the nanometer to submicron range. Electrospinning has been the most widely used method to synthesize nanofibers with tunable properties such as high specific surface area, uniform pore size, and controlled hydrophobicity. These properties of nanofibers make them highly sought after as adsorbents, photocatalysts, electrode materials, and membranes. In this review article, a basic description of the electrospinning process is presented. Subsequently, the role of different operating parameters in the electrospinning process and precursor polymeric solution is reviewed with respect to their influence on nanofiber properties. Three key areas of nanofiber application for water treatment (desalination, heavy-metal removal, and contaminant of emerging concern (CEC) remediation) are explored. The latest research in these areas is critically reviewed. Nanofibers have shown promising results in the case of membrane distillation, reverse osmosis, and forward osmosis applications. For heavy-metal removal, nanofibers have been able to remove trace heavy metals due to the convenient incorporation of specific functional groups that show a high affinity for the target heavy metals. In the case of CECs, nanofibers have been utilized not only as adsorbents but also as materials to localize and immobilize the trace contaminants, making further degradation by photocatalytic and electrochemical processes more efficient. The key issues with nanofiber application in water treatment include the lack of studies that explore the role of the background water matrix in impacting the contaminant removal performance, regeneration, and recyclability of nanofibers. Furthermore, the end-of-life disposal of nanofibers needs to be explored. The availability of more such studies will facilitate the adoption of nanofibers for water treatment applications.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaolin Fang ◽  
Varenyam Achal

The global energy crisis and heavy metal pollution are the common problems of the world. It is noted that the microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been developed as a promising technique for sustainable energy production and simultaneously coupled with the remediation of heavy metals from water and soil. This paper reviewed the performances of MFCs for heavy metal removal from soil and water. Electrochemical and microbial biocatalytic reactions synergistically resulted in power generation and the high removal efficiencies of several heavy metals in wastewater, such as copper, hexavalent chromium, mercury, silver, thallium. The coupling system of MFCs and microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) successfully reduced cadmium and lead without external energy input. Moreover, the effects of pH and electrode materials on the MFCs in water were discussed. In addition, the remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil by MFCs were summarized, noting that plant-MFC performed very well in the heavy metal removal.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (31) ◽  
Author(s):  
Idrissa Soumaoro ◽  
Wéré Pitala ◽  
Kissao Gnandi ◽  
Tona Kokou

Background. Heavy metals are persistent in the environment and can cause bioaccumulation in the food chain. Drinking water contamination by heavy metals can pose a risk to poultry and to human health. The need for affordable, reliable and effective methods of water treatment has led to the use of plants materials, including coagulants such as Moringa oleifera seeds, to ensure poultry products are safe for consumers. Objectives. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of drinking water treatment by Moringa oleifera seed on the concentration and distribution of metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) in different parts of broilers chickens and theirs effects on consumer health. Methods. A total number of 264 one-day old chickens (Cobb-500) were assigned to three treatments, with 22 birds in each treatment and replicated four times: untreated well water (UW), well water treated with Moringa oleifera seeds and filtered (MOF) and well water treated with Moringa oleifera seeds but unfiltered (MOU). Thirty birds were randomly chosen from different treatments and slaughtered at day 45 of the experiment and samples of livers, kidneys, gizzards and breasts were obtained and analyzed for toxic metals concentrations using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results. The results indicated that the bioaccumulation of heavy metals was lower in MOF than those in UW and MOU. The target hazard quotient (THQ) for individual metals was below acceptable limits except for As and Pb in UW and MOU. The carcinogenic risk (TR) was estimated for each metal due to consumption of different types of chicken. Conclusions. Moringa oleifera seeds are an environmentally friendly natural coagulant and able to treat water containing undesirable heavy metal concentrations and ensure that poultry meat is safe for consumers. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests. Ethics Approval. This study was approved by the ethics Committee of the University of Lomé-Togo.


2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 5823-5832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Najmul Kabir Chowdhury ◽  
Ahmad Fauzi Ismail ◽  
Mohammad Dalour Hossen Beg ◽  
Gurumurthy Hegde ◽  
Rasool Jamshidi Gohari

Polyvinyl alcohol/polysaccharide hydrogel formation ((A)–(C)) and metallic species adsorption ((D)) for water treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 897 ◽  
pp. 109-115
Author(s):  
Sri Martini ◽  
Kiagus Ahmad Roni ◽  
Dian Kharismadewi ◽  
Erna Yuliwaty

This review article presents the usage of various animal bones such as chicken bone, fish bone, pig bone, camel bone, and cow bone as reliable biosorbent materials to remove heavy metals contained in contaminated water and wastewater. The sources and toxicity effects of heavy metal ions are also discussed properly. Then specific insights related to adsorption process and its influential factors along with the proven potentiality of selected biosorbents especially derived from animal bone are also explained. As the biosorbents are rich in particular organic and inorganic compounds and functional groups in nature, they play an important role in heavy metal removal from contaminated solutions. Overall, after conducting study reports on the literature, a brief conclusion can be drawn that animal bone waste has satisfactory efficacy as effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly sorbent material.


2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 53-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. C. Aralp ◽  
A. Erdincler ◽  
T. T. Onay

Heavy metal concentration in sludge is one of the major obstacles for the application of sludge on land. There are various methods for the removal of heavy metals in sludge. Using sulfur oxidizing bacteria for microbiological removal of heavy metals from sludges is an outstanding option because of high metal solubilization rates and the low cost. In this study, bioleaching by indigenous sulfur oxidizing bacteria was applied to sludges generated from the co-treatment of municipal wastewater and leachate for the removal of selected heavy metals. Sulfur oxidizing bacteria were acclimated to activated sludge. The effect of the high organic content of leachate on the bioleaching process was investigated in four sets of sludges having different concentrations of leachate. Sludges in Sets A, B, C and D were obtained from co-treatment of wastewater and 3%, 5%, 7% and 10% (v/v) leachate respectively. The highest Cr, Ni and Fe solubilization was obtained from Set A. Sulfur oxidizing bacteria were totally inhibited in Set D that received the highest volume of leachate.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (28) ◽  
pp. 13624-13632 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Ding ◽  
Yang Chen ◽  
Tianyi Fu ◽  
Peng Bai ◽  
Xianghai Guo

Nanosheet-based magadiites are promising adsorbents with controlled interlayer space and a well-defined 2D structure, which make them new candidates for heavy metal removal.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Faheem ◽  
Sadaf Shabbir ◽  
Jun Zhao ◽  
Philip G Kerr ◽  
Nasrin Sultana ◽  
...  

Cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb) are heavy metals that have been classified as priority pollutants in aqueous environment while methane-oxidizing bacteria as a biofilter arguably consume up to 90% of the produced methane in the same aqueous environment before it escapes into the atmosphere. However, the underlying kinetics and active methane oxidizers are poorly understood for the hotspot of epipelon that provides a unique micro-ecosystem containing diversified guild of microorganisms including methane oxidizers for potential bioremediation of heavy metals. In the present study, the Pb2+, Cd2+and Cr6+ bioremediation potential of epipelon biofilm was assessed under both high (120,000 ppm) and near-atmospheric (6 ppm) methane concentrations. Epipelon biofilm demonstrated a high methane oxidation activity following microcosm incubation amended with a high concentration of methane, accompanied by the complete removal of 50 mg L−1 Pb2+ and 50 mg L−1 Cd2+ (14 days) and partial (20%) removal of 50 mg L−1 Cr6+ after 20 days. High methane dose stimulated a faster (144 h earlier) heavy metal removal rate compared to near-atmospheric methane concentrations. DNA-based stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) following 13CH4 microcosm incubation revealed the growth and activity of different phylotypes of methanotrophs during the methane oxidation and heavy metal removal process. High throughput sequencing of 13C-labelled particulate methane monooxygenase gene pmoA and 16S rRNA genes revealed that the prevalent active methane oxidizers were type I affiliated methanotrophs, i.e., Methylobacter. Type II methanotrophs including Methylosinus and Methylocystis were also labeled only under high methane concentrations. These results suggest that epipelon biofilm can serve as an important micro-environment to alleviate both methane emission and the heavy metal contamination in aqueous ecosystems with constant high methane fluxes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (9) ◽  
pp. 1797-1827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya-Nan Xu ◽  
Yinguang Chen

Abstract Industrial development has led to generation of large volumes of wastewater containing heavy metals, which need to be removed before the wastewater is released into the environment. Chemical and electrochemical methods are traditionally applied to treat this type of wastewater. These conventional methods have several shortcomings, such as secondary pollution and cost. Bioprocesses are gradually gaining popularity because of their high selectivities, low costs, and reduced environmental pollution. Removal of heavy metals by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) is an economical and effective alternative to conventional methods. The limitations of and advances in SRB activity have not been comprehensively reviewed. In this paper, recent advances from laboratory studies in heavy metal removal by SRB were reported. Firstly, the mechanism of heavy metal removal by SRB is introduced. Then, the factors affecting microbial activity and metal removal efficiency are elucidated and discussed in detail. In addition, recent advances in selection of an electron donor, enhancement of SRB activity, and improvement of SRB tolerance to heavy metals are reviewed. Furthermore, key points for future studies of the SRB process are proposed.


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