Themed collection Nanomaterial applications in water

Strategic pairing of engineered nanomaterials to platforms will advance safe and effective deployment of nano-enabled water decontamination.

An international workshop identified how pore structures and unique properties that emerge at nano- to sub-nano- size domains can improve the energy efficiency and selectivity of electroseparation or electrocatalytic processes for treating water.

ZIF-based catalysts have great potential for PMS activation in environmental treatment. State of the art and prospects in recent breakthroughs are presented in this review.

Carbon nanomaterial-based membranes exhibit fascinating permselectivity for water and wastewater treatment, and their performance could be further improved under electrochemical assistance, benefiting from their good electrical conductivity.

This review provides guidance for solar absorber design, selection, and optimization, and evaporation system engineering for efficient solar-driven evaporation.

In the field of nanocatalysis, noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) have aroused tremendous attention owing to their superb catalytic efficiency, especially in the catalytic reduction of nitroaromatics.

Worldwide industrialization and population growth have caused dramatic environmental pollution that has led to a water crisis.

This review summarizes the application of porous g-C₃N₄ in water treatment and modification to enhance its catalytic performance, showing the potential of porous g-C₃N₄ for the actual treatment of water bodies.

Colorimetric sensors fabricated via nanomaterials and nanotechnology exhibited promising applications in environmental science.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with a nanoscale thickness are promising candidates for advanced molecular separations.

Nanomaterials have been demonstrated to be an effective adsorbent or an ion exchanger for selectively removing various radioactive species present in contaminated water while preventing radionuclides from entering and interacting with the biosphere.

Advanced electrocatalysts for halogenated organic pollutant degradation.

The development of enrichment–separation–analysis technologies is the cornerstone of accurately detecting, effectively monitoring, and controlling ENPs in aquatic environments.

The solvent-free chemical vapor crosslinking can directly fix the interlayer spacing of GO membranes for better water treatment.

Graphene-supported C₃N₄/TiO₂ hetero-aerogels with high photocatalytic properties and sustainability are designed and synthesized.

Iron-based poly(ionic liquid)/polydopamine composite shows excellent degradation performance for organic pollutants, providing a promising route for the design of efficient and stable heterogeneous Fenton catalysts.

Schematic diagram of the photocatalytic reduction mechanism for the PAM40 system.

A leaf vein-biomimetic nanofibrous membrane was constructed by nonsolvent-induced phase inversion for high-performance surface filtration of water contaminants.

Harmful algal blooms lead to cyanobacteria toxins increase in natural water. A novel nanochannel-based sensing system utilizing metal–organic frameworks and DNA aptamers was developed for highly sensitive detecting microcystin-LR in real water.

Superior catalytic activity toward As(III) for P FeCo₂O_4−x/GCE with increasing reductive Fe(II)/Co(II) sites.

Cr(VI) reduction to Cr(III) with electrochemical technique has been regarded as an effective method for the treatment of toxic Cr(VI) contaminated wastewater.

A multi-ratiometric fluorescence sensor was designed for the sensing of the anthrax biomarker based on a bimetallic lanthanide metal–organic framework.

Promoting the growth of sulfide particles by regulating heterogeneous nucleation and aggregation to facilitate their sedimentation and separation.

In the current work, a CuS nanoflower-modified ZnO nanorod heterojunction was synthesized by a two-step hydrothermal method.

The feasibility of a novel surface-anchored bifunctional photocatalytic nanofiltration membrane for simultaneously degrading and separating target antibiotics in sewage effluent in a continuous flow-through process was verified.

The mechanism of antibiotic photodegradation on SA-BiOCl.

The study reports a concept for fabrication of [MoS₄]²⁻ clusters intercalated into CaAl-LDH for heavy metal removal, which involves Pb–S bonding for Pb(II) and lattice substitution for Cd(II).

A new cationic porous organic polymer (VBT-POP) has been synthesized and it showed excellent selective and quantitative adsorptive removal of anionic dyes RB (1252 mg g⁻¹) and XO (735 mg g⁻¹).

BiO_1−XBr/CeVO₄ S-scheme heterostructures with rich oxygen vacancies boosted the simultaneous removal of Cr(VI) and tetracycline.

The fabricated nano-sized magnetic material exhibited an excellent removal performance towards 9-phenanthrene, and its underlying binding mechanism is proposed.

A novel strategy of “preadsorption–degradation” for efficient PFOA removal based on the EC-NaClO system with an Fe/Ni foam electrode has been successfully achieved.

Electrochemical sensor with green gold sononanoparticles (from Malva sylvestris leaf extract) and carbon black onto a Sonogel-Carbon electrode to determine simultaneously hydroquinone, catechol and resorcinol in various water samples.

Gold nanosphere-encapsulated mesoporous silica exhibits excellent performance in phenol degradation by providing high surface area, blocking external interfering materials, and preventing leakage of gold nanospheres.

A carbon nanoparticle-based visual fluorescent array sensing–artificial intelligence (deep learning) integrated platform for remote detection of toxic heavy metal ions.

A 3D-MoS₂ based wood sponge absorbent was upcycled to construct a solar steam generator for drinking water purification.

The activation of peroxymonosulfate by metal-doped C–N-based materials has been used extensively for pollutant degradation but usually suffers from low efficiency and stability due to the relatively few N coordination sites.

Rational design of covalent organic frameworks has been performed for efficient photocatalytic H₂O₂ production without using any sacrificial agent.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are used as remediation agents against nanoplastic pollutants. Magnetic particle spectroscopy is utilized as an advanced characterization method and limits of the approach are highlighted.

Understanding the interaction of wood-based nanomaterials with different pharmaceuticals is basic for future engineering of nanostructured wood-based adsorbents for pharmaceutical pollutants.

A dual-emission ratiometric fluorescence probe for the simultaneous detection of tetracycline (TC) and Fe³⁺ in aqueous solution was fabricated based on a boron-doped carbon quantum dot (B-CQD)/CdTe–Eu³⁺ composite.

Recyclable magnetic COFs/Fe₃O₄ synthesized using ball-milling showed fast and high adsorption for two PFOS and PFOA substitutes in water.

Ultrathin Bi₄O₅Br₂ nanosheets with surface oxygen vacancies and strong interfacial interaction with Bi₂O₂CO₃ for highly efficient removal of water contaminants.

Novel magnetic conjugated microporous polymer hollow spheres (CMP-HSs@Fe₃O₄) with high specific surface areas were synthesized for the absorption of antibiotics and the sterilization of microbes in wastewater, and possessed superior sterilization performance.

The purpose of this study is to immobilize GOPEI on a spongin skeleton coated with an alginate coating layer in order to generate a cohesive composite that is very efficient in removing Hg and can be easily recovered from remediated water.

SERS with molecular immobilization and resonant Raman amplification by complex-loaded enhancer (MIRRACLE) enables detection of hazardous phenolic pollutants down to nM concentrations in gasoline fuel and freshwater samples.

As-synthesized new compound Mn₅P₄O₂₀H₈ show effective removal of heavy metal ions down to the mark of tolerance concentration (parts per billion level) from drinking water with synergistic pathway of surface hydroxyl group trapping and lattice ion-exchange.

Improving the biodegradation efficiency of terephthalic acid (TA) wastewater processes is highly challenging, particularly in large-scale up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors.

Confined ultrasmall metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for efficient persulfate-based Fenton-like processes.

The ameliorated solar photocatalytic performance is a combined result of Ag-NPs and caterpillar-like Zn–C hierarchical nanoarchitectures derived from MOF micro- and nanorods.

This study addresses barriers to large-scale application of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) in water treatment schemes through its affixation onto granular activated carbon (AC) as an active adsorbing platform.

Chemical vapor deposition method was utilized to grow multilayer 2D-WS₂. The as grown semiconductor 2D-WS₂ shows excellent piezo-catalytic water purification ability.

A novel porous organic nanofiber (PONF) was synthesized for effective removal of pharmaceutical pollutants from water with superfast adsorption kinetics.

We fabricated a novel nanowell enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrate that can capture and detect nanoplastics with the aid of the coffee ring effect. Single polystyrene nanoplastics down to 200 nm can be directly visualized.

A novel manganese-crosslinking sodium alginate modified biochar and zerovalent iron composite (Mn/SA-BC@nZVI) was prepared for the simultaneous removal of arsenite (As(III)) and cadmium (Cd(II)) from contaminated water.

Photocatalytic degradation process of TC by BMO/Bi/BOB-x.

Fe doping results in the change of SBU and corresponding binding modes of MOF-808.

Three-dimensional interconnected N-doped Ti₃C₂T_x hollow spherical shells with abundant accessible space exhibit excellent capacitive deionization performance in asymmetric electrode systems.

Highly sensitive Hg²⁺ detection was achieved via the combination of fluorescence quenching induced by charge transfer between AO and Hg²⁺ and the accelerated mass transfer between the AO–Mn₂O₃/γ-AlO(OH) micromotor and target Hg²⁺ ions.

Herein, a photo-assisted-electro-Fenton-like (PAEF-like) system using p–n type Cu₂O/Bi₂MoO₆ (CBM) as photoelectric catalyst was designed for efficient ciprofloxacin removal.

La(OH)₃ and polyethyleneimine functionalized 3D dendritic mesoporous silica spheres as novel porous adsorbents efficiently removed phosphate and Congo red. In P/CR binary solution, the formed LaPO₄ promoted the simultaneous adsorptive removal of CR.

Copper–platinum core–shell nanostructures are prepared on pencil graphite substrate for electrochemical oxidation and electroanalysis of ammonia.

We developed a new and sustainable SNFs-ZIF hybrid membrane with improved treatment efficiency and enhanced water permeability for excellent removal of multiple pollutants including heavy metals, dyes and NO₃⁻.

Graphene oxide membranes with polymer-crosslinked structures are designed to simultaneously modify the physicochemical and electrostatic properties of nanochannels for molecular separation.

A loose nanofiltration membrane fabricated by electrospray interfacial polymerization which contained a tiny amount of sulfonated graphene oxide nanoparticles showed excellent water permeance and salt/dye separation.

The most accessible adsorption sites were well designed and constructed on La-o-PTA frameworks for improving the As(III) removal performance via using the strongest interaction force between La-o-PTAs and As(III).

Capacitive deionization (CDI) utilizing metal oxide-decorated carbon-based materials has emerged as a promising process to convert saline water into freshwater due to its lower energy demand and robustness.

One-step tailoring of robust superamphiphobicity on nanocomposite mats with superior antifouling and anti-wetting properties for membrane distillation.

Gold nanostars (AuNSt) amalgamated with mercury ions (Hg²⁺) results in reduced SERS performance whilst their enzyme-mimicking capability is not deteriorated, thus providing a basis for Hg²⁺ detection with inverse sensitivity.

A new N, S containing porous polymer is reported, which showed excellent Hg²⁺ (3106 mg g⁻¹) CH₃Hg⁺ (691 mg g⁻¹) uptakes.

In this work, we synthesized a novel bio-based Fe-centered metal–organic aerogel and provided valuable guidance for solving practical TC-related pollution issues.