Themed collection Nanomaterials in air

With the development of industrialization, the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are steadily increasing, posing a significant risk to atmospheric quality and public health.

Photocatalysis is an eco-friendly and cost-effective method to realize the purification of ppb-level NO, and the end-product (nitrate/ammonia) of the photocatalytic NO complete oxidation/reduction reaction can be further recycled.

Direct deposition of nano-dry-salt on nonwovens was developed as a process that can be incorporated into conventional nonwoven production for timely application of biosafe anticoronaviral surfaces and reliable aerosol filtration performance.

A multifunctional adsorbent with diversified channels and abundant thermal effect sites provides efficient adsorption–desorption diffusion for VOC recycling, which plays a significant role in mitigating VOC emissions and reducing health risks.

The production of sulfur by catalytically reducing SO₂ with CO presents a promising approach for utilizing sulfur oxides found in flue gases.

The underlying mechanism that correlates adsorption energy with both the specific volatile organic compound (VOC) category and the carbon chain length on the MoS₂ monolayer is elucidated through DFT calculations.

The airborne nanoparticles in six cities were characterized and their interactions with air ions were investigated.

Wrinkled graphene coatings are engineered to fulfill multiple functions desired for ultrathin gloves that prevent human exposure to chemical toxicants.

Increased adhesion between GO layer and substrate by PDA, PEI sequential coating and CO₂ affinity due to secondary PEI coating.

Combined computational and experimental studies are carried out to unravel the role of active centers on C₂H₂ oxidation over Co₃O₄ catalysts.

A novel mechanism has been revealed by the study that the adsorption of VOC molecules on the surface of semiconductors formed midgap states between the ground state of the VOCs and the conduction band of the semiconductor.

Zeolite-like ion-exchanged Cu-attapulgite catalysts have been developed for selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia.

A progressive transition from the L–H model to MvK model is observed, where a polyhedral Co₃O₄ nanocatalyst enabled by topotactic condensation of ZIF-67 is synthesized for catalytic degradation of n-hexane.

The construction of a core–shell Pt@MnO_x/SiO₂ protective structure catalyst can protect the active Pt site well from SO₂ toxicity.

The network of silver nanowires coated with graphene oxide sheets, which are deposited on nylon fabric, will offer valuable information pertaining to the development of an electrostatic air filter for solving air pollution.

The intensity of light illumination played an important role in the formation of organic ammonium salts on nano-hematite.

Regulating Al₂O₃ to θ phase is an effective method for enhancing the stability of CF₄ decomposition.

Technology based on adsorption of porous carbon is a promising and cost-effective strategy for the recovery of high-value volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or removal of worthless VOCs.

We introduce a metallic high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter based on a Cu nanofiber membrane, which grasps particulate matters physically and electrostatically. The filter also shows excellent antimicrobial property and reusability.

This study firstly revealed that toluene oxidation activity can be considerably improved by cationic defects rather than oxygen defects over nano-structured CoMnO_x.

A Au@Co₃O₄ core–shell nanocomposite was prepared for the mineralization of formaldehyde under dark conditions and visible-light irradiation. The Au@Co₃O₄ core–shell nanocomposite has significantly promoted the photocatalytic formaldehyde oxidation.

Catalytic activity, water resistance and stability of hematite nanomaterials in oxidative removal of polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons can be simultaneously enhanced through facet engineering.

Raspberry-like hollow spheres consisting of small TiO₂ nanocrystals exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for the removal of nitrogen oxides.

Light illumination can enhance the NOC formation from heterogeneous processes of toluene whereas water cannot.

Mineral dust aerosols in snow were analyzed by single particle ICP-MS with machine learning to classify particle groups.

NO₂ played an important positive or negative role in SO₂ heterogeneous reactions, however, NH₃ always exerted significant positive impacts on SO₂ heterogeneous reactions in the three reaction systems of SO₂–MgO-dark, SO₂–MgO-hν and SO₂–MgO–O₃.

Cu-ZSM-5-IE+CP exhibited excellent catalytic performance as a result of the synergistic effect between CuO and Cu²⁺ species.

A ducted GPEC reactor equipped with defective WO₃/TiO₂ nanotube photoelectrodes was developed for VOC removal. Applying a tiny bias voltage promoted rapid carrier transfer and inhibited the recombination of carriers trapped by the bulk OVs.

SO₂-Tolerant catalytic reduction of NO_x was demonstrated by confining active species in TiO₂ nanotubes.

A photodynamic GO@MIL-101 adsorbent was presented by growing several isolated MIL-101 nanoparticles onto GO nanosheets, which was able to realize the complete desorption of VOCs within 60 min under UV-vis-NIR light irradiation.

The relationship between PM_2.5 compositions and neuron toxicity was explored and Al³⁺ was revealed to be antagonistic to other pollutants by decreasing the combined toxic effects.

The molecular hierarchical synergistic effects of toluene photooxidation are elucidated to explain the formation mechanism of secondary organic aerosols.

Pd⁰ and N vacancy co-modified g-C₃N₄ displayed excellent NO-removal activity.

Urban rain and runoff are potential sources of anthropogenic nanomaterials (engineered and incidental, ENMs and INMs) to receiving waterbodies.