Treatment technologies for pharmaceutical effluents-A scientometric study

Metoprolol removal and mineralization by TiO2 and iron pillared clay nanocomposite: Impact of operating parameters, water matrices, and solar light

This study investigates the photocatalytic degradation of metoprolol tartrate (MET) using TiO2 nanostructures supported on Fe pillared activated bentonite (FeAB) under UV, visible, and solar irradiation. The TiO2/FeAB nanocomposite was synthesized via sol-gel and hydrothermal methods, and was characterized using techniques such as XRD, EDS, FTIR, SEM, BET and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The TiO2 nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the clay surface, with a red shift observed in UV-visible spectroscopy. Thus, a reduction in the band gap values of TiO2 and TiO2/FeAB from 3.1 to 2.85 eV respectively. The photocatalytic performance depended on parameters such as catalyst dosage, initial MET concentration, pH, and light sources. MET degradation was complete within pH 6.2-9.7, with superior efficiency under solar and visible light compared to UV light. The composite showed no significant interference from chloride, sulfate, or carbonate ions and demonstrated effective degradation across various water matrices (tap water, spring water, seawater, and river water). Under solar light, MET degradation rates followed the order: ultra-pure water and seawater ≫ source water and tap water ≫ river water. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) measurement showed 73 %, 100 %, and 76 % mineralization after 10 h under UV, visible, and solar light, respectively. The TiO2/FeAB composite exhibited excellent stability and reusability, highlighting its potential as a clean technology for pharmaceutical removal from diverse water sources.

Microwave pretreatment of wastewater sludge technology-a scientometric-based review

This manuscript presents a scientometric review of recent advances in microwave pretreatment processes for sewage sludge, systematically identifying existing gaps and prospects. For this purpose, 1763 papers on the application of microwave technology to sludge pretreatment were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) using relevant keywords. These publications were then analyzed using diverse scientometric indices. The results show that research in this field encompasses applications based on the non-thermal effects of microwaves, enhanced effectiveness of anaerobic digestion (AD), and the energy balance of this pretreatment system. Overcoming existing technical challenges, such as the cleavage of extracellular polymers, reducing microwave energy consumption, understanding the non-thermal effects of microwaves, promoting AD of sludge in combination with other chemical and physical methods, and expanding the application of the technology, are the main scientific focuses. Additionally, this paper thoroughly examines both the constraints and potential of microwave pretreatment technology for wastewater treatment.

Leveraging the potential of silver nanoparticles-based materials towards sustainable water treatment

Increasing demand of pure and accessible water and improper disposal of waste into the existing water resources are the major challenges for sustainable development. Nanoscale technology is an effective approach that is increasingly being applied to water remediation. Compared to conventional water treatment processes, silver nanotechnology has been demonstrated to have advantages due to its anti-microbial and oligodynamic (biocidal) properties. This review is focused on environmentally friendly green syntheses of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their applications for the disinfection and microbial control of wastewater. A bibliometric keyword analysis is conducted to unveil important keywords and topics in the utilisation of AgNPs for water treatment applications. The effectiveness of AgNPs, as both free nanoparticles (NPs) or as supported NPs (nanocomposites), to deal with noxious pollutants like complex dyes, heavy metals as well as emerging pollutants of concern is also discussed. This knowledge dataset will be helpful for researchers to identify and utilise the distinctive features of AgNPs and will hopefully stimulate the development of novel solutions to improve wastewater treatment. This review will also help researchers to prepare effective water management strategies using nano silver-based systems manufactured using green chemistry.

Treatment of heavy metals containing wastewater using biodegradable adsorbents: A review of mechanism and future trends

The direct disposal of industrial effluents into the aquatic system is considered as a significant environmental hazard in many countries. Because of poisonous chemicals, substantial volumes of effluent release, as well as the lack of adequate of conventional treatment methodologies, industrial effluent treatment is extremely difficult. Numerous researchers have been interested in adsorption technology for its high efficiency of pollutant removal, low cost, and abundantly available adsorbent. Various adsorbent materials, both natural and modified form, have been widely used for the removal of toxic contaminants from industrial effluent. This paper highlights recent advancements in multiple modification types to functionalize the adsorbent material, resulting in higher adsorption capacity on various toxic pollutants. This review provides an overview of the adsorption mechanism and parameters (pH, adsorbent dosage, initial concentration, temperature and interaction time), which influencing the removal efficiency of adsorbents. Furthermore, this review compiles the desorption study to recover the adsorbent and improve the cycle's financial viability. This review provides a concise overview of the future directions and outlook in the framework of adsorbent application for industrial wastewater treatment.

Identification and removal of micro- and nano-plastics: Efficient and cost-effective methods

Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have gained much attention in recent years because of their ubiquitous presence, which is the widely acknowledged threat to the environment. MPs can be <5 mm size, while NPs are <100 nm, and both can be detected in various forms and shapes in the environment to alleviate their harmful effects on aquatic species, soil organisms, birds, and humans. In efforts to address these issues, the present review discusses about sampling methods for water, sediments, and biota along with their merits and demerits. Various identification techniques such as FTIR, Raman, ToF-SIMS, MALDI TOF MS, and ICP-MS are critically discussed. The detrimental effects caused by MPs and NPs are discussed critically along with the efficient and cost-effective treatment processes including membrane technologies in order to remove plastics particles from various sources to mitigate their environmental pollution and risk assessment.

Engineered nanomaterials for (waste)water treatment - A scientometric assessment and sustainability aspects

Application of nanomaterials for the treatment of effluents originated from various industrial and non-industrial sources, has been rapidly developed in recent decades. In this situation, there is a need for conclusive studies to identify the current status of the knowledge in this field and to promote the commercialization of such technologies by providing recommendations for future studies. In the present manuscript, a scientometric assessment on the progress made in this field has been performed and the results have been organized and discussed in terms of science statistics, research hotspots and trends, as well as the relevant sustainability aspects. Based on a set of keywords, identified through a pre-literature analysis, a total of 6539 documents were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database and analyzed to achieve the main goals of this study. The results demonstrate that the studies in this field have been initiated since the beginning of the 2000s but were mainly performed in lab and pilot scales. Also, China and Iran were identified as the most contributing countries in this scientific area in terms of the number of publications. Among various types of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), there has been especial attention for the application of iron-based nanomaterials as well as carbonaceous structures (such as graphene oxide and biochar). Besides, there are not still strong collaborations formed among researchers in this area worldwide. Regarding the research hotspots, the synthesis of green and sustainable nanomaterials (e.g., biosynthesis approaches) has received attention in recent years. The results can also demonstrate that the most widely studied pathway for the removal of pollutants from (waste)waters involves the adsorption of the pollutants using ENMs. Treatment of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) as well as exploring the mechanisms involved in the treatment of contaminated (waste)waters using ENMs and the possible by-products are considered the current trends in the literature. Regarding the sustainability aspects of ENMs for (waste)water treatment, the results achieved in this study calls for in-depth sustainability studies, which consider parameters such as economic, environmental, and social aspects of nanomaterials utilization for (waste)water treatment purposes, besides the technical parameters, to push transferring such technologies from lab and pilot scales to large and real-scale applications.