Themed collection Environmental Remediation

With the development of nuclear power and the nuclear industry, some uranium-containing wastewater will inevitably be released into the environment, which poses a threat to human health and the environment.

The removal of gases, organics, heavy metals and radionuclides on zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs).

The halloysite clay nanotube lumen has shown great application potential in the field of environmental remediation. This relies on delicate manipulation of the clay nanotube lumen and benefits from the unique functionality of the nanotube lumen.

Mesoporous materials are promising adsorbents and catalysts for gas removal (CO₂, NO_x, and VOCs) due to their advantages including exceptionally high surface area, interconnected pore networks, and superior mass transfer capabilities.

This review summarizes the key roles of various vacancy defects in PS-AOPs and provides insights into the understanding of vacancy defect in persulfate activation to promote the development of PS-AOPs in water treatments.

The simultaneous use of bio-resources and sustainable materials as reducing/capping agents and supporting materials to obtain supported metal nanoparticles is a significant green approach applied to wastewater treatment.

The Co₂B₂O₅/PMS system demonstrates superior efficiency in degrading persistent organic pollutants, surpassing traditional CoO and Co₃O₄ catalysts, making it a promising solution for industrial wastewater treatment.

With the rapid expansion of applications in agriculture, nanotechnology has emerged as an effective alternative for alleviating abiotic stress in plants.

Recently, in situ injections of polymer-stabilized colloidal activated carbon (CAC) have shown successful immobilization of per/polyfluoroalkyl substances from groundwater.

The environmental consequences of overusing chronic toxic nitro compounds are severe as they result in the discharge of substantial quantities of toxins into the biosphere of organisms.

Construction of heterostructures has been an effective approach for suppressing recombination of photogenerated charge carriers of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) materials and facilitating solar energy harvesting.

10-CFS exhibited outstanding PMS activation ability, 98.7% of CIP was degraded within 30 min. The result demonstrated that the presence of Co(IV)O caused the better degradation performance of 10-CFS.

A novel type of photoanode is formed via electrochemical pulse deposition. Photogenerated carriers are separated by the Z-type heterojunction, which contributes to realizing the photoelectrocatalytic degradation of antibiotics in water.

Our study presents an atmospheric inventory of Ti-containing NPs from industrial sources, highlighting environmental risks and informing strategies for pollution control and public health protection.

A tailored engineering approach assisted by recyclable deep eutectic solvent fractionation was presented for the dual valorization of waste lignocellulose.

A novel self-healing composite passivator (PLHP passivator) was synthesized. The PLHP coatings could passivate pyrite at room temperature, exhibiting excellent long-term stability and self-healing ability.

The self-cycled photocatalytic Fenton system rapidly degrades organic pollutants containing real wastewater.

Herein, a series of N-doped carbon nanomaterials were synthesized by the pyrolysis of biomass waste and various nitrogen sources for sulfamethoxazole degradation via peroxymonosulfate activation.

Defective BiVO₄–BiOCl heterojunctions promoted the visible light NO (∼ppb) removal and inhibited the toxic intermediate (NO₂) generation due to strong built-in interfacial electric field contact at the junction interface.

With the assistance of visible-light, MEF directly used pollutant energy to generate H₂O₂ and enhance removal, giving a new idea for pollutant resource recovery.

Selenate removal from mine-influenced brine down to 20 μg L⁻¹ was demonstrated through continuous photocatalytic reduction using nano-TiO₂, highlighting UV reactor parameters and design considerations critical for practical real-world application.

The internal electric field in nanosheets induces the balanced generation of holes and superoxide radicals, which synergistically degrade ciprofloxacin rapidly.

A novel and facile strategy was applied in the design and fabrication of a micromotor-assisted dual-functional platform for the sensitive detection and rapid removal of aniline in water.

Fe–N₅ SAC efficiently activates peroxymonosulfate, resulting in remarkable 4-CP degradation efficiency with turnover frequency of 59.8 L (min g)⁻¹, and holds potential application in environmental remediation.

Ruthenium species were confined within hollow carbon nitride spheres to efficiently activate peroxymonosulfate to produce reactive radicals and singlet oxygen for decomposing a pharmaceutical contaminant in wastewater, i.e., acetaminophen.

Nanotechnology has been widely used in agriculture to improve plant growth and stress tolerance.

The NBs have the best removal rate of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants in porous media under weakly alkaline condition (pH = 7–8). Both strong acidity and strong alkalinity are not conducive to the flushing removal of pollutants.

A novel hypercrosslinked triazine COF photocatalyst (HCTF-2) with excellent photocatalytic performance was constructed by molecular expansion. HCTF-2 has a larger specific surface area and exhibits excellent molecular oxygen activation ability.

The construction of Zr:BiVO₄@Bi₂S₃–CoS heterojunctions has been demonstrated to be an effective way to facilitate PEC water splitting and degradation of organic pollutants.

The crystalline phase significantly affects the efficiency of TiO₂ nanomaterials in catalyzing hydrolysis reactions of organophosphates, primarily by modulating the surface Lewis acidity of TiO₂.

Three Co–N/C-based catalysts with different types of nitrogen are prepared and employed to activate peroxymonosulfate for tetracycline degradation.

Herein, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are reported as an efficient catalyst and nanoreactor for activating CaSO₃ for water decontamination.

MOF@cotton@chitosan composite for nanomolar fluorescence sensing of nitroxinil drug and p-arsanilic acid in real samples is presented.

Janus nanosheets synergistically interact with oil-degrading bacteria for marine oil spill remediation.

We have developed a sufficient electron-donating system. With the presence of the two most active transition metals with multiple valences, several as-formed redox pairs can provide sufficient electrons to then generate free radicals.

The effect of the phase transition from bismuth iodide to bismuth oxyiodides on the photodegradation efficiency of nitazoxanide is explored.

Polluted wastewater containing organic pollutants and heavy metals is increasing and harms environmental ecosystems and human health.

Hollow ZIF-8-derived carbon is fabricated via TA etching and carbonization. Graphitic N plays a vital role in electron transfer non-radical oxidization. The hollow structure induces the evolution from an ROS-driven to an electron-transfer process.

Creating a high-efficiency heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic properties is considered a promising approach to wastewater decontamination.

Construction of p–n junction BiOCl/montmorillonite photocatalysts with enhanced carrier separation efficiency for degradation of antibiotics.

CdS modified GCN has been explored as a high-efficiency piezocatalyst for 2,4-DCP degradation.

The existence of MnO_x@Fe₃O₄ bimetallic nanoparticles improved the adsorption capacities by increasing the adsorption sites of PAC and the self-catalytic reaction extended the service life of MnO_x@Fe₃O₄-PAC without additional use of oxidants.

This work revealed the dual activation mechanism of O₂ and H₂O on nano Ag/GDY and the excellent antibacterial efficiency.

In this work, the structural parameters of three sustainable REVO₄ electrocatalysts, with variation in RE site with RE = Ce, Pr, Nd for the electrochemical monitoring of metronidazole in environmental samples.

A magnetic iron “nano-fishnet” (i.e., alkylated nanoscale zerovalent iron grown on naturally derived cellulose nanofibers (ac-nZVI)) was fabricated for the rapid removal and surface clean-up of micro/nanoplastics from seawater.

In this study, fungi-enabled hierarchical porous magnetic carbon (FPC/nZVI) with an ultrahigh surface area was synthesized using fungal fermentation and used for the efficient remediation of As(III) in water and soil.

Regulating the distance of Fe₂O₃ nanowires and Au nanoparticles achieves the oriented generation of ˙OH and ˙O²⁻ for efficient degradation of contaminants.

Regulating the abundance of oxygen vacancies over α-MnO₂ nanocatalysts achieves the oriented generation of ¹O₂ for efficient degradation of pharmaceuticals.

We have investigated the local atomic structures and electronic properties of CFTNF (Cu_xO/Fe₂O₃/TiO₂(B)) towards photocatalytic H₂ production and trimethoprim degradation.

P and N co-doped Fe SACs with dual reaction sites exhibited an ultra-low activation energy and exhibited excellent BPA degradation efficiency in the PMS-based heterogeneous Fenton-like reaction.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising technique for desalination of brackish water because it is highly energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.

SAFe/CNS synthesized via a cocoon silk chemistry strategy exhibits ultrahigh specific surface area, which brings out a large adsorption capacity for organic pollutants, thereby effectively utilizing the vicinal as-generated active species.

Graphene oxide modulated dual S-scheme ultrathin heterojunctions with iron phthalocyanine and phase-mixed bismuth molybdate as wide visible-light catalysts for tetracycline degradation.

Peracetic acid (PAA)-based advanced oxidation processes have garnered increasing attention for eliminating organic pollutants in wastewater treatment.

A facile modulation strategy was adopted to fabricate hierarchically porous HP-UOH-X via introducing benzoic acid with different dosages into the precursor solution of UiO-66-(OH)₂.

Adjusting the structure and surface profiles of CeO₂ could significantly modify its catalytic performance for CVOCs.

The dynamic behavior and anion exchange mechanism of ⁹⁹TcO₄⁻ on imine-linked cationic COFs are elucidated to provide theoretical basis for developing novel cationic COFs materials for environmental remediation.

A ZnIn₂S₄ nanoflake-decorated 24-faceted concave MIL-88B(Fe) polyhedron S-scheme system was perfectly created, manifesting simultaneously enhanced photocatalytic cleanup of Cr(VI) and tetracycline.

An increase in the fluorescence lifetime of rhodamine B dye, when in contact with hematite nanoparticles in methanol from mildly acidic to alkaline pH, is consistent with the transfer of electrons from excited dye to the hematite conduction band.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) as an efficient oxidation technology, have been extensively applied for degrading recalcitrant organic contaminants via the generated reactive oxygen species from the activation reaction of catalysts.

Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles alleviated Cd uptake mainly via down-regulation of OsNRAMP5, OsCd1, OsIRT1 and OsIRT2 in roots, while the contribution of the enhanced formation of Fe plaque was minor.

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles were synthesized using an environmentally friendly method via A. niger fermentation broth, and the negative effects of Cd on mung bean seedlings were alleviated by them through ion exchange and chelation mechanisms.

Industrial production activities commonly lead to excessive hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] and cadmium [Cd(II)] release to water and soil, which significantly endanger the ecological environment and human health.

This research provides a feasible strategy for the development and application of a novel nanosized photocatalyst and an innovative approach for the treatment of freshwater aquaculture wastewater.

Bismuth molybdate nanosheets are self-assembled from nanoparticles and exhibit outstanding photoelectrochemical properties. This material will be a potential candidate for the degradation of multi-pollutants in environmental remediation.

The synthetic process of the Zn_0.5Ni_0.5Fe₂O₄-S, N-GO sample and the proposed mechanism of pollutant degradation in the Zn_0.5Ni_0.5Fe₂O₄-S, N-GO/PMS system.

Porous carbon nitride with rich amino defects shows excellent photocatalytic activity for synergistic removal of organic and heavy metal pollutants.

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube encapsulated Fe₇S₈ was successfully used as a promising cathode for the high-efficiency and selective removal of Pb²⁺ ions.

A 2D/0D Bi₁₂O₁₇Cl₂/AgBr Z-scheme photocatalyst provides a jointed synchronous pathway for simultaneous Cr(VI) and TC removal.

Red phosphorus/borocarbonitride heterojunction composites were prepared by a vaporization–deposition method for excellent photocatalytic activity towards tetracycline degradation.