Hollow Polyaniline Microsphere/MnO2/Fe3O4 Nanocomposites in Adsorptive Removal of Toxic Dyes from Contaminated Water

Polyoxometalate nanocluster-infused triple IPN hydrogels for excellent microplastic removal from contaminated water: detection, photodegradation, and upcycling

Microplastic (MP) pollution pervades global ecosystems, originating from improper plastic disposal and fragmentation due to factors like hydrolysis and biodegradation. These minute particles, less than 5 mm in size, have become omnipresent, impacting terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments worldwide. Their ubiquity poses severe threats to marine life by causing physical harm and potentially transferring toxins through the food chain. Addressing this environmental crisis necessitates a sustainable strategy. Our proposed solution involves a highly efficient copper substitute polyoxometalate (Cu-POM) nanocluster infused triple interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel, comprising chitosan (CS), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and polyaniline (PANI) (referred to as pGel@IPN) for mitigating MP contamination from water. This 3D IPN architecture, incorporating nanoclusters, also enhances the hydrogel's photodegradation capabilities. Our scalable approach offers a sustainable strategy to combat MPs in water bodies, as demostrated by the adsorption behaviors on the hydrogel matrix under varying conditions, simulating real-world scenarios. Evaluations of physicochemical properties, mechanical strength, and thermal behavior underscore the hydrogel's robustness and stability. Detecting minute MP particles remains challenging, prompting us to label MPs with Nile red for fluorescence microscopic analysis of their concentration and adsorption on the hydrogel. The catalytic properties of POM within the hydrogel facilitate UV-induced MP degradation, highlighting a sustainable solution. Our detailed kinetics and isotherm studies revealed pseudo-first-order and Langmuir models as fitting descriptors for MP adsorption, exhibiting a high maximum adsorption capacity (Qm). Notably, pGel@IPN achieved ∼95% and ∼93% removal efficiencies for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylene (PP) MPs at pH ∼ 6.5, respectively, also demonstrating reusability for up to 5 cycles. Post-end-of-life, the spent adsorbent was efficiently upcycled into carbon nanomaterials, effectively removing the heavy metal Cr(VI), exemplifying circular economy principles. Our prepared hydrogel emerges as a potent solution for MP removal from water, promising effective mitigation of the emerging pollutants of MPs while ensuring sustainable environmental practices.

Aluminum Montmorillonite/Polyaniline Hybrid Composite-Based Organogels for the Expurgation of Carcinogenic Chlorophenols and Congo Red Dye from Defiled Water Sources

Chlorophenol and Congo Red dye being highly toxic are well known for their carcinogenic activity. This work focuses on preparing an organogel for the removal of both chlorophenol and Congo Red. PAni molecules were grafted in situ between the layers of montmorillonite (MMT) to form a PAni/MMT composite, which was further modified to form a gel structure. The composite was thoroughly characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The gel was further analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and by studying the rheological properties. The resulting gel exhibited an impressive solvent uptake, with a maximum of 2084% (20 times) for chlorophenol, while the dye adsorption capacity was 349.72 mg/g with 99.44% removal efficiency. The adsorption proceeded with the pseudo-second-order model followed by the Langmuir monolayer adsorption model and Weber's intraparticle diffusion model. The sorbent was found to be selective among cationic dyes while retaining 83% of dye even in the fifth cycle. The hybrid sorbent shows great promise for sustainable purposes, and the results of this study are certainly encouraging.

Interpenetrating polymer networks for desalination and water remediation: a comprehensive review of research trends and prospects

Interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) architectures have gained a lot of interest in recent decades, mainly due to their wide range of applications including water treatment and environmental remediation. IPNs are composed of two or more crosslinked polymeric matrices that are physically entangled but not chemically connected. In polymer science, the interpenetrating network structure with its high polymer chain entanglement is commonly used to generate materials with many functional properties, such as mechanical robustness and adaptable structure. In order to remove a targeted pollutant from contaminated water, it is feasible to modify the network architectures to increase the selectivity by choosing the monomer appropriately. This review aims to give a critical overview of the recent design concepts of IPNs and their applications in desalination and water treatment and their future prospects. This article also discusses the inclusion of inorganic nanoparticles into traditional polymeric membrane networks and its advantages. In the first part, the current scenario for desalination, water pollution and conventional desalination technologies along with their challenges is discussed. Subsequently, the main strategies for the synthesis of semi-IPNs and full-IPNs, and their relevant properties in water remediation are presented based on the nature of the networks and mechanism, with an emphasis on the IPN membrane. This review article has thoroughly investigated and critically assessed published works that describe the latest study on developing IPN membranes, hydrogels and composite materials in water purification and desalination. The goal of this critical analysis is to elicit fresh perspectives regarding the application and advantages of IPNs in desalination and water treatment. This article will also provide a glimpse into future areas of research to address the challenges relating to advanced water treatment as well as its emerging sustainable approaches. The study has put forward a convincing justification and establishes the relevance of IPNs being one of the most intriguing and important areas for achieving a sustainable generation of advanced materials that could benefit mankind.

Degradation of Diazo Congo Red Dye by Using Synthesized Poly-Ferric-Silicate-Sulphate through Co-Polymerization Process

The ability of poly-ferric-silicate-sulphate (PFSS) synthesized via a co-polymerization process has been applied for the removal of diazo Congo red dye. A novel degradation pathway of diazo Congo red dye by using PFSS is proposed based on LC-MS analysis. Diazo Congo red dye was successfully removed using synthesized PFSS at lower coagulant dosages and a wider pH range, i.e., 9 mg/L from pH 5 to 7, 11 mg/L at pH 9, and 50 mg/L at pH 11. The azo bond cleavage was verified by the UV-Vis spectra of diazo Congo red-loaded PFSS and FTIR spectra which showed disappearance of the peak at 1584 cm^-1 for -N=N- stretching vibrations. The synchronized results of UV-Vis spectra, FTIR, and the LC-MS analysis in this study confirmed the significance of the Si and Fe bond in PFSS towards the degradation of diazo Congo red dye. The successfully synthesized PFSS coagulant was characterized by FTIR, SEM, TEM, and HRTEM analysis. From this analysis, it was proven that PFSS is a polycrystalline material which is favorable for the coagulation-flocculation process. Based on all these findings, it was established that synthesized PFSS can be employed as a highly efficient polymeric coagulant for the removal of dye from wastewater.

High-efficiency adsorption removal of CR and MG dyes using AlOOH fibers embedded with porous CoFe2O4 nanoparticles

Owing to the toxicity and difficulty in degradation, how to the effective separation for the residual dyes in the aqueous solution is still an issue with great challenge in the area of environmental protection. Now, to high-efficiency removal of organic dyes from the aqueous solution, we design a unique AlOOH/CoFe₂O₄ adsorbent with porous CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles embedded on the AlOOH fibers using a simple hydrothermal technique and calcination process. The structural properties and surface characteristics of the AlOOH/CoFe₂O₄ composites are detailedly analyzed by XRD, FTIR, XPS, TEM and SEM. Here, the high S_BET and specific porous structure are beneficial to improve the adsorption performance of AlOOH/CoFe₂O₄ adsorbents. Especially, when the molar ratio of AlOOH to CoFe₂O₄ in the AlOOH/CoFe₂O₄ fibers is 1:1, an optimal performance on adsorbing anionic Congo red (CR) and cationic methyl green (MG) dyes can be obtained at pH = 6.29, where the corresponding maximum adsorption capacities reach up to 565.0 and 423.7 mg g^-1, respectively. Factors leading to the change in the ability of adsorbing CR and MG dyes are systematically discussed, including contact time, temperature, initial concentrations, and pH values of the solutions. Meanwhile, the uptake of CR and MG dyes can best conform to Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetics. The thermodynamic analysis verifies that the dye adsorption process is spontaneous and endothermic. Moreover, from the point view of practical application, the good reusability further makes the as-synthesized magnetic AlOOH/CoFe₂O₄ composite be a perfect adsorbent with efficiently removing both anionic and cationic dyes from aqueous solutions.

Multifunctional Ternary NLP/ZnO@l-cysteine-grafted-PANI Bionanocomposites for the Selective Removal of Anionic and Cationic Dyes from Synthetic and Real Water Samples

The development of competent adsorbents based on agro-waste materials with multifunctional groups and porosity for the removal of toxic dyes from aqueous solutions is still a challenge. Herein, a bionanocomposite made up of neem leaf powder (NLP), zinc oxide (ZnO), and amino acid (l-cysteine)-functionalized polyaniline (PANI), namely, NLP/ZnO@l-cysteine-grafted-PANI (NZC-g-PANI), has been prepared by an in situ polymerization method. The as-prepared bionanocomposite was tested for the adsorptive removal of three anionic dyes, namely, methyl orange (MO), amido black 10B (AB 10B), and eriochrome black T (EBT), as well as three cationic dyes, namely, brilliant green (BG), crystal violet (CV), and methylene blue (MB), from synthetic aqueous medium. The morphological and structural characteristics of the NZC-g-PANI nanocomposite were examined with the help of HR field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy. FTIR and Raman studies show that the formulated NZC-g-PANI have an ample number of functional moieties such as carboxyl (-COOH), hydroxyl (-OH), amines (-NH₂), and imines (-N=), thus demonstrating outstanding dye removal capacity. C-S linkage helps to attach l-cysteine with polyaniline. Moreover, the predominance of chemisorption via ionic/pi-pi interaction and hydrogen bonding between the NZC-g-PANI nanocomposite and dyes (BG and MO) has been realized by FTIR and fitting of kinetics data to the PSO model. For both BG and MO dyes, the biosorption isotherm was precisely accounted for by the Langmuir isotherm with q _max values of up to 218.27 mg g^-1 for BG at pH 6 and 558.34 mg g^-1 for MO at pH 1. Additionally, thermodynamic studies revealed the endothermic and spontaneous nature of adsorption. NZC-g-PANI showed six successive regeneration cycles for cationic (MO: from 96.3 to 90.4%) and anionic (BG: from 94.7 to 88.7%) dyes. Also, batch adsorption operations were validated to demonstrate dye biosorption from real wastewater, such as tap water, river water, and laundry wastewater. Overall, this study indicates that the prepared NZC-g-PANI biosorbent could be used as an effective adsorbent for the removal of various types of anionic as well as cationic dyes from different aqueous solutions.

Ultrahigh Adsorption Capacity Zirconium-Magnesium Composite Oxide Nanoclusters Remove Malachite Green from Aqueous Media

The environmental pollution caused by organic dyes has damaged serious harm to human life. Hence, a series of Zr-Mg composite oxide nanoclusters with different metal ratios were synthesized by solvothermal method for adsorption of malachite green in aqueous solution. The optimal adsorbent with Zr/Mg metal molar ratio of 1 : 2 presented good adsorption performance, which adsorption capacity reached 12647.60 mg/g, and removal rate of malachite green reached more than 99%. These adsorbents were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectra, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and other methods. Influence of initial concentration of malachite green solution, pH, adsorption temperature, and contact time on absorption efficiency was investigated through batch experiments. Pseudo-second-order kinetic model can well describe the adsorption kinetic data. The three-parameter Sips isotherm model was more suitable for predicting the experimental results than Langmuir and Freundlich, and the adsorption process was endothermic.

Removal of Methyl Red from Aqueous Solution Using Polyethyleneimine Crosslinked Alginate Beads with Waste Foundry Dust as a Magnetic Material

In this study, a cost-effective adsorbent based on sodium alginate (SA) with waste foundry dust (WFD) was fabricated for the removal of methyl red (MR) from aqueous media. However, the utilization of WFD/SA beads to remove anionic dyes (such as MR) from effluents has limitations associated with their functional groups. To improve the adsorption performance, WFD/SA-polyethyleneimine (PEI) beads were formed via PEI crosslinking onto WFD/SA beads, which could be attributed to the formation of amide bonds from the carboxyl and amino groups due to the change of N-H bonds in the reaction. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicated that PEI was crosslinked on the WFD/SA via a chemical reaction. In the FTIR spectra of WFD/SA-PEI, peaks of the –COO (asymmetric) stretching vibration shifted to 1598 and 1395 cm⁻¹, which could be attributed to the hydrogen-bonding effect of the N–H groups in PEI. In the N1s spectrum, three deconvoluted peaks were assigned to N in –N= (398.2 eV), –NH/–NH₂ (399.6 eV), and NO₂ (405.2 eV). WFD/SA-PEI beads were assessed and optimized for aqueous MR adsorption. The WFD/SA-PEI beads showed a high removal efficiency for MR (89.1%) at an initial concentration of 1000 mg/L, and presented a maximum MR adsorption capacity of 672.7 mg/g MR. The adsorption process showed a good fit with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The amino and hydroxyl groups in the WFD/SA-PEI beads facilitate strong hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. Moreover, these WFD/SA-PEI beads were easily recovered after the adsorption process.

Amino Acid-Doped Polyaniline Nanotubes as Efficient Adsorbent for Wastewater Treatment

A natural amino acid-doped polyaniline nanostructure was prepared by a simple in situ chemical polymerization method in an aqueous medium. The structure and morphology of composite material were characterized by FESEM, TEM, FT-IR, and XRD. The results showed that the product possesses a large aspect ratio and a hollow tubular morphology. As-synthesized products were further applied to remove dyes and heavy metal ions from the aqueous solution, which exhibited good removal capacity toward Congo red (955.6 mg·g−1) and Cr(VI) (60.0 mg·g−1). The adsorption data for the former were found to be well described by the pseudo-first-order kinetic and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. Thermodynamic studies show that the adsorption of Congo red by GluP is a spontaneous and endothermic process. Moreover, cyclic experiment results show that the polyaniline composites exhibited good recyclability. Therefore, these amino acid-doped polyaniline nanotubes can be expected to be an ideal candidate for the removal of organic dye and heavy metal ions from wastewater.

Photocatalytic performance of 3D engineered chitosan hydrogels embedded with sulfur-doped C3N4/ZnO nanoparticles for Ciprofloxacin removal: Degradation and mechanistic pathways

Ciprofloxacin, a biotoxic micropollutant, is ubiquitously found in the water environment, which is a global concern. This study developed polymeric S-C₃N₄/ZnO-Chitosan (indexed as SCZ-CH) hydrogels for degrading Ciprofloxacin. The SCZ-CH hydrogels provided the Ciprofloxacin degradation efficiencies of ~93% and ~69% in UV and visible lights, respectively, at optimum conditions (SCZ-CH hydrogels with 2 g/L SCZ, 20 mg/L initial concentration, pH 5, and room temperature). In addition, immobilized SCZ-CH hydrogels structures enable easy separation of the SCZ catalyst from water. The spectroscopic and microscopic analyses of SCZ-CH hydrogels show multifaceted properties, like high oxygen concentrations, crystallinity, stacked structure, high roughness, and improved bandgap energy, which are responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic activity. The effects of water matrix and experimental conditions on Ciprofloxacin degradation were also studied, which suggested that the catalyst dose and solution pH have significant effects on photocatalytic activity. SCZ-CH hydrogels have shown good mineralization efficiency (~98%) and reusability (up to 10 cycles) for Ciprofloxacin removal. Superoxide radicals played an essential role in the degradation of Ciprofloxacin. The Ciprofloxacin molecules get degraded by driving radicals through oxidation, defluorination, substitution, and breaking of the rings. The proposed SCZ-CH hydrogels can be effectively used at a large scale to treat micropollutants.